The Divide

Using a good metaphor in the title and the story, this typically French social drama depicts France of the late 2010's and early 20's, the yellow jackets crisis and hospital structural, financial problems, the difficulties that doctors and nurses have to face to do their job properly. Social fracture illustrated thru a broken leg and elbow, excellent metaphor. The main problem here is the comedy line, too devastating to permit any tension or even emotion. But acting is flawless, especially concerning Marina Fois and Valeria Bruni; the Yellow Jacket character is however a bit overplayed, too much to be realistic. I could not resume this movie till the end, precisely because of those comedy lines.

The Fracture tells us the story of a group of people that nothing brings together who end up in the hospital emergency room during a Yellow Vests demonstration that goes wrong. A demonstrator injured by the police (Pio Marmaï, perfect), a middle-class couple in the process of separating (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and Marina Foïs), and of course the medical staff around them.

Many themes are addressed: the demands of the yellow vests, the functioning and difficulties of a hospital emergency unit, the states of mind of Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (brilliant in the interpretation of a selfish and unbearable character). By confronting a yellow vest injured by the police with a bourgeois woman with existential problems regarding the existence of her couple that can seem completely outdated compared to what is happening around between the police smoke and bludgeon the Yellow Vests and the other patients in the emergency room. The film is pretty good in its component of not favoring one side over the other or at least developing the characters well from each point of view.

So it's a rather realistic social film, not necessarily subtle, but it gets its messages across clearly and asks some questions. This is one of its important virtues. It is perfect for provoking debate. On the technical components, there is nothing to say. The actors are good with all the pathos their characters carry.

Godardian & critical French film which uses pan right-pan left, tracking & hand held shots generating a crazy atmosphere in a hospital which represents in a kind of metaphor, the political and social French fracture and disenchantment.