Epic French Sci-Fi Movie ‘L’Empire’ from Bruno Dumont – First Trailer
by Alex Billington
September 22, 2023
Source: YouTube
“The Prince of Darkness must be removed from the face of the Earth.” ARP Selection in France has revealed the first look official trailer for a sci-fi epic called L’Empire, which translates to The Empire in English. It’s the latest film from French filmmaker Bruno Dumont (of Twentynine Palms, Hadewijch, Slack Bay, Joan of Arc, France) and was originally rumored to premiere in Cannes, though it never showed up. Now set to open in France in March 2024. “Between Ma Loute and The Life of Jesus, between heaven and earth, Bruno Dumont offers us his caustic, cruel and crazy vision of Star Wars.” That’s their description. A small village of Northern France is the battleground of undercover extraterrestrial knights. Starring a big French cast: Virginie Efira, Lily-Rose Depp, Camille Cottin, Lyna Khoudri, Anamaria Vartolomei, with Fabrice Luchini. This has spaceships galore, ethereal aliens, lightsabers, religious metaphors, French sex jokes, and all kinds of other crazy sci-fi things going on. Whoa! But will it be any good? Hard to tell, almost seems too wacky – a bit like Dumont’s French history-inspired take on The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Here’s the first official French trailer (+ poster) for Bruno Dumont’s L’Empire, direct from YouTube:
From the banal daily life of a fisherman’s village on the Opal Coast, emerges epic parallel lives of knights from interplanetary kingdoms. Rival clans are engaged in fierce & bloody battle after the announcement of the birth of Margat, the resurgent Prince, purple and ugly, the Beast of the End Times — located here on the Opal Coast, he is the child of a young couple already separated, as is common to life in a working class neighbourhood… L’Empire is both written and directed by French filmmaker Bruno Dumont, director of the films The Life of Jesus, Humanity, Twentynine Palms, Flanders, Hadewijch, Outside Satan, Camille Claudel 1915, Slack Bay, Joan of Arc, and France previously. Produced by Rachid Bouchareb, Jean Bréhat, Bertrand Faivre, Muriel Merlin, Andrea Paris, and Matteo Rovere. This hasn’t premiered at any festivals or elsewhere, as for as we know. ARP Sélection has Dumont’s L’Empire set to open in French cinemas starting on March 13th, 2024 early next year. Stay tuned for more US updates. First impression? Look any good?
 |
