There are so many different modes of survival depending on all matter of circumstances including class, race, sexual orientation and gender. In Lola Quivoron’s daring debut feature, co-written with her life partner and actress Antonia Buresi, the main character relies on working outside a system full of structural barriers to persist. It plays out as a visceral crime action thriller, a detailed portrait of a subculture and a probing character study of a young French-Guadeloupian woman who enters the male-dominated world of cross-bitume (moto cross biking) in France.
The cast is mainly made up of non-professional actors, some of whom Quivoron found through the biking community while making her 2016 short film Au Loin, Baltimore. First-time actress Julie Ledru, who plays the lead role of Julia, was discovered on Instagram and her screen presence dazzles like a meteor hurtling through the sky. The film rarely lets up thanks to a combination of Ledru’s dynamic turn, kinetic camerawork with breathless tracking shots along open roads and impressively choreographed action sequences packed full of thrilling bike and quad stunts.
What’s less engaging are the fantasy elements. The occasional nightmare sequences are distracting and do little more than add a sense of dread that is already deeply apparent (and duly affecting) thanks to Ledru’s performance and an unsettling post-reggaeton score by Kelman Duran. In night-time scenes, where Julia’s fury reaches boiling point and the misty skies glow yellow, the cinematography by Raphaël Vandenbussche intensifies the film’s fiery and hellish qualities.
The beautifully framed landscapes veer between wildly enticing, and imbued with a sense of freedom to perilous and frightening. The film is full of juxtapositions like this which Quivoron effectively uses to build suspense as to whether Julia’s choices will eventually consume or liberate her.
Though their objectives are different, Julia’s fearless attitude is reminiscent of the homeless Mona from Agnès Varda Vagabond. Julia is a hustler who steals bikes to serve her passion and make money. She infiltrates the all-male bike gang by replacing a member and spends her time provoking people and causing arguments. She’s a character who sticks her middle finger up at societal expectation and only code-switches when it aids her criminal activity. She rolls with the punches, quite literally at points, and is determined to find her place in a world where men set the rules.
Quivoron demonstrates great care in her portrayal of Julia’s relationship with Domino (Sébastien Schroeder) and the imprisoned gang leader’s wife, Ophélie (Buresi). Domino controls both of the women’s finances and Julia attempts a quiet rebellion against his vice-tight grip. She clearly feels affection towards Ophélie, though it’s ambiguous as to whether this is erotic or friendly. The women confide in one another to boost confidence. Female struggle and intersectional feminism compellingly revs the engines of this tenderly crafted and exhilarating debut.
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ANTICIPATION.
It won the Coup de Coeur Prize in the Un Certain Regard strand at Cannes in 2022. 3
ENJOYMENT.
A film that fires on all cylinders… 4
IN RETROSPECT.
…even if it does eventually run out of gas. 3
Directed by
Lola Quivoron
Starring
Antonia Buresi, Yannis Lafki, Julie Ledru
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