Le Dernier des fous / Demented

Le Dernier des fous / Demented

by Laurent Achard (2006) with Julien Cochelin, Annie Cordy, Pascal Cervo, Dominique Raymond (France, 95 mins).

Winner 2006 Locarno International Film Festival. Prix Jean Vigo 2006.

It’s summer and the beginning of the long vacation period for eleven-year-old Martin, who lives on a farm, and, at a loss, observes his family’s disintegration: his mother lives locked-up in her room; his older brother, whom he adores, drowns himself in alcohol; and his father, dominated by Martin’s grandmother, is a helpless onlooker to the family’s collapse. Although Mistigri, his cat, and Malika, the Moroccan maid, afford him some comfort, Martin is determined to put an end to this confusion. In French with English subtitles.