Astrakan

An orphan boy’s experience of puberty and the slow realization that his new foster family harbors a dark secret. A film like a timeless painting, poetic and harrowing.

Two new brothers, a first tentative love, and a terrible suspicion: young Samuel enters the home of his new, overburdened foster parents in the French province as well as the merciless world of puberty. As concentrated as it is poetic, David Depesseville’s debut feature observes its young protagonist as he finds his place in life. The sensitive rhythm, the clear, painting-like images, and the montage reminiscent of Robert Bresson give the film an impressive, timeless aura. The striking faces of the children are among the elements that evoke French film history and the childhood portraits of François Truffaut and Maurice Pialat. The violence remains off-screen, the family’s dark secrets are only hinted at, but their presence is felt in every scene. Until the fulgurating final sequence, which dares to embrace high symbolism, casting all that came before in a clearer light.

Director