MFFF MOVIE REVIEW: THE TURNING TIDE (EN SOLITAIRE)




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It was always a dream of Yann Kermadec (Francois Cluzet) to win the strictly solo three months round the world race VENDEE GLOBE. But when his high tech yacht has a technical problem and he stops to fix it near Canary Islands, an unwelcome guest sneaks onto his boat.


Mano is a sixteen year old Mauritian who dreams of coming to Paris and play football. For Yann the boy’s presence means the end of his dream to win the race, but as the adventure progresses and friendship starts to develop between the two, Yann has to face a decision of a lifetime.


EN SOLITAIRE is a brilliant directorial debut of Christophe Offenstein who was a photographer for many great French directors. His portrayal of beautifully dangerous race is striking,  with no CGI.  But exploring the human emotions and conflicts, unfortunately, seems to be a much harder task for him.


Francois Cluzet is an actor who can shine in any movie and does his best, while young Mano (Samy Seghir) is miscast - he is too “model looking” for the little refugee and could have easily been mistaken for one of the “ONE DIRECTION” boys. The supporting cast does job well, but their daily life is unwelcome interruption to the story of the relationship between the man and the sea and all that comes with it.


The music score from Patrice Renson is beautiful and memorable enough, so that you can find yourself humming the tune on the way out of the theatre.


The screenplay is tense without being overdramatic and there’s a sense that all this is happening here and now, and during the storm we are plunged into the middle of it. Don’t get sea sick!


With all its small imperfections EN SOLITAIRE is a thoroughly enjoyable adventure with a bitter-sweet ending that will satisfy.

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