Ever since he was on the music hall scene, then he became a director, Pierre Jolivet has been sending messages in his shows and films. His ecological convictions are expressed in Green Algae, on screens Wednesday, July 12. He adapts the graphic novel by Inès Léraud and Pierre Van Howe, Green algae – the forbidden story (Delcourt) on the deadly hydrogen sulphide (H2S) pollution emitted by decomposing marine plants in Brittany. If the subject is promising, the film lacks breath.
Stolen Images
Young journalist, Inès Léaud settles in Brittany to investigate several recent deaths that have mourned the beaches of Brittany. They would be due to the fumes of decomposing green algae that proliferate on the coast. For her investigation, Inès goes to the agricultural world which sustains the country. She questions the locals but encounters an absolute silence that obstructs access to all truth.
Proliferating since 1971 and in the news since 2009, green algae remain a scourge that is hardly talked about anymore. Pierre Jolivet refreshes our memory. Also, this subject dominates the film, with a “stolen images” side which is undoubtedly where it succeeds best. Without being a docufiction, but approaching it, it is in this waltz-hesitation that Green Algae loses its juice.
Repeated denial
Written by Pierre Jolivet and Inès Léraud, the author of the graphic novel, the adaptation lacks perspective. In wanting to put everything, the film repeats itself and loses in dramaturgy. Inès Léraud observes the state of the beaches, questions residents and locals, knocks on the doors of factory farms, attracts the animosity of operators… Inès comes up against repeated negation and denial, which, at the final, restricts the thickness of the characters, the story and the narration. Produced with a limited budget, the film does not focus on images, but its reportage side does work in its favour. In this regard, is the choice of the scope format (widescreen) justified?
In the footsteps of one Erin Brockovich (Steven Soderbergh, 2000) – on drinking water in the United States -, Pierre Jolivet sins in the writing and the rhythm of his green algae. However, the subject lends itself to the narrative, in the choices faced by the protagonists – to speak or not – and the politicians in their decisions. But the script goes around in circles, like the resolution of this scourge which is still raging.
The sheet
Gender : Drama / Politics
Director: Pierre Jolivet
Actors: Céline Sallette, Nina Meurisse, Julie Ferrier, Pasquale D’Inca, Clémentine Poidatz, Jonathan Lambert, Adrien Jolivet
Country : France
Duration : 1h47
Exit : July 12, 2023
Distributer : High and Short
Adaptation of green algae – the forbidden story, the comic strip by Inès Léraud and Pierre Van Hove, taken from the investigation led by Inès Léraud into the green algae scandal.