This Is Our Land

This Is Our Land (French: Chez nous) is a 2017 French-Belgian drama film directed by Lucas Belvaux and starring Émilie Dequenne, André Dussollier and Guillaume Gouix. It received seven nominations at the 8th Magritte Awards, including Best Film and Best Director for Belvaux, and won Best Actress for Dequenne.[3]

Not to be confused with The Land is Ours.
This Is Our Land
Theatrical release poster
Directed byLucas Belvaux
Produced byDavid Frenkel
Patrick Quinet
Screenplay byLucas Belvaux
Jérôme Leroy
StarringÉmilie Dequenne
André Dussollier
Guillaume Gouix
Catherine Jacob
Anne Marivin
Music byFrédéric Vercheval
CinematographyPierric Gantelmi d'Ille
Edited byLudo Troch
Production
company
Synecdoche
Artémis Productions
France 3 Cinéma
RTBF
Distributed byLe Pacte
Release date
  • 30 January 2017 (2017-01-30) (IFFR)
  • 22 February 2017 (2017-02-22) (France)
Running time
117 minutes
CountryFrance
Belgium
LanguageFrench
Budget$6.2 million[1]
Box office$3 million[2]

Plot

Pauline is a home nurse who lives with her children, Tom and Lili, and her father Jacques, a retired worker and former member of the French Communist Party, in a small village in Pas-de-Calais, in northern France. Pauline belongs to a working class family and has to worry about supporting the whole family on her only salary.

Pauline is much loved by her patients, thanks to her open and caring character. Doctor Philippe Berthier, a right-wing physician who had assisted Pauline's mother before she died, approaches the girl to the ideas of a nationalist party led by Agnès Dorgelle, who proposes Pauline as candidate for mayor of her village.

Pauline is reunited with Stéphane Stankowiak, an old friend from school, who trains the woman's son's soccer team. Pauline is unaware that Stéphane plays in a group of skinheads thugs, from which he gradually tries to move away so as not to damage the girl's election campaign. Berthier invites Stéphane to move away permanently from Pauline, threatening to disclose his subversive militancy and his past as a hitter in the service of Dorgelle's party.

When Pauline reveals to Jacques that she is running for mayor with a far-right party, he chases her away, saying he doesn't want to be the father of a fascist in any way. Pauline's patients are divided: the most conservative promise all their support, while the most progressive push her away. The same situation occurs among the nurse's friends: the racist Nathalie joins her staff, also promoting a fake news website against refugees who have settled in France in order to increase consensus, while Nada, French by birth but daughter of Slavic parents, accuses her of being only the pawn of a pack of extremists.

Fearing for Pauline's safety, Stéphane asks some of his comrades to follow her secretly to avoid being attacked. However, the situation deteriorates and the skinheads seriously injure a Pauline protester with a firearm. When the girl tries to help the wounded, she is badly driven out by all the inhabitants of a popular apartment building. Desperate for being dismissed from father, friends and patients, and suspicious of Stéphane's gradual physical estrangement, Pauline visits Berthier, asking if he has anything to do with all this. Berthier reveals Stéphane's violent past to Pauline, asking the girl to choose between politics or love: Pauline chooses to be with Stéphane and to abandon the party, withdrawing from the mayor race and being promptly replaced by Nathalie.

Reunited with Jacques, Pauline goes out with her children, her father and Stéphane to the stadium, having fun for the duration of the game. When Stéphane lends his cellphone to Lili for a few seconds to see the selfies taken during the match, the girl mistakenly shows the mother some photos taken by Stéphane and his comrades in which they threaten and mistreat a couple of refugees. Horrified by the pictures, Pauline flings herself on Stéphane, angrily beating him, until Jacques and the children manage to stop her fury and bring her home.

Cast
Émilie Dequenne (center), Lucas Belvaux (to her left) and crew at the IFFR 2017

Production

Filming began on 10 May 2016 in Nord-Pas-de-Calais in Lens, Béthune, Hersin-Coupigny and Bruay-la-Buissière and was expected to complete on 4 July.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]

Reception

Critical reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 75%, based on 12 reviews, and an average rating of 6.2/10.[11] <On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[12]

Controversy

The film was slated to be released two months before the first round of the 2017 presidential elections in France and directly targets the National Front. The character of Catherine Jacob is said to strongly resemble Marine Le Pen and members of the political party saw the film as an affront. Steeve Briois, the FN mayor of Hénin-Beaumont, tweeted: "Poor Marine Le Pen, which is caricatured by this tobacco pot of Catherine Jacob. A damn turnip in perspective!"[13] Florian Philippot, another member of the FN declared: "According to the trailer that I saw [...], it looks like a nice turnip, but, beyond the quality of the film, I find it really scandalous that in the countryside Presidential election, I believe precisely to two months of the vote, we allow in French screening rooms a film that is clearly anti-National Front. [...] It disturbs me on behalf of Catherine Jacob. I was a fan of Catherine Jacob. There, I love her very much, but for me she is spoiled. Why? For some money, for a César, for a little chocolate medal that will be given, for service rendered to the system ?"[14][15][16]

Accolades
Award / Film Festival Category Recipients and nominees Result
Istanbul International Film Festival Golden Tulip Nominated
Magritte Awards[3] Best Film Nominated
Best Director Lucas Belvaux Nominated
Best Actress Émilie Dequenne Won
Best Supporting Actor Patrick Descamps Nominated
Best Screenplay Lucas Belvaux Nominated
Best Original Score Frédéric Vercheval Nominated
Best Editing Ludo Troch Nominated
Rotterdam International Film Festival Big Screen Award Nominated

References
  1. JP. "Chez Nous". JP's Box-Office. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  2. "Chez Nous". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  3. Belga (February 3, 2018). "Cérémonie des Magritte: Carton plein pour "Insyriated", élu meilleur film, qui remporte 6 distinctions". La Libre Belgique (in French). Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  4. Ferracci, Michel [@michel_ferracci] (8 May 2016). "On commence le tournage mardi avec Émilie Dequenne 😜 #cheznous #lucasbelvaux #guillaumegouix #andredussolier ..." (Tweet). Retrieved 17 April 2018 – via Twitter.
  5. Destouches, Thomas (5 April 2016). "Lucas Belvaux retrouve Emilie Dequenne pour Chez nous". AlloCine. Webedia. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  6. Capitaine, Vincent (7 May 2016). "Emilie Dequenne élue d'extrême-droite dans le prochain film sulfureux de Lucas Belvaux". Destination Ciné. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  7. La Voix du Nord (23 March 2016). "Le cinéaste Lucas Belvaux s'intéresse à l'extrême droite… chez nous". La Voix du Nord. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  8. Keslassy, Elsa (10 May 2016). "La Pacte Boards Lucas Belvaux's Political Drama 'This Is Our Land' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  9. La Voix du Nord (11 May 2016). "Béthunois: le tournage du dernier film de Lucas Belvaux arrive à Hersin, puis à Bruay vendredi". La Voix du Nord. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  10. Seghi, Patrick (6 June 2016). "Lille : Lucas Belvaux tourne une scène de son prochain film au Grand Sud". La Voix du Nord. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  11. "This Is Our Land (Chez nous) (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  12. "This Is Our Land Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  13. Tesse, Marine (31 December 2016). "Catherine Jacob pour incarner Marine Le Pen ? Ça ne plaît pas à tout le monde..." La Chaîne Info. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  14. Réaux, Amandine (31 December 2016). "Plusieurs cadres FN s'insurgent contre "Chez nous", un film qu'ils jugent "anti-FN" (sans l'avoir vu)". Le Lab. Europe 1. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  15. DR (1 January 2016). "Le FN vent debout contre le film "Chez nous", bientôt en salles". Le Parisien. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  16. Duchemin, Rémi (1 January 2017). "Philippot : le film de Lucas Belvaux "est proprement scandaleux"". Europe 1. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
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