01/09/2024 - VENICE 2024: Frédéric Farrucci delivers a thrilling modern western following a Corsican shepherd hunted down by mafiosi and brilliantly played by Alexis Manenti

“You’ve become an anomaly in the landscape. You very well know how this will end, I won’t draw you a picture”. When the very source of your existence is threatened by dangerous characters, the choice is simple: to submit to them, or to confront them at your own risk. It’s the second option that compulsively chooses the taciturn and stubborn protagonist of Frédéric Farrucci’s captivating second feature, The Mohican [+see also:
trailer
interview: Frédéric Farrucci
film profile], unveiled in the Orizzonti Extra programme of the 81st Venice Film Festival. Moreover, the setting is Corsica, where no one lacks character, in a territory plagued by crime that navigates between seaside business and underground independence movement.

“We’re interested in your land – But it’s not buildable? – That isn’t your problem – I work on this land! – Monstrous interests are at play, they go beyond you”. Nicknamed “the last of the Mohicans” by a friend because he’s the last to still keep his herd of goats along the coast, on the peninsula of Santa Manza, solitary shepherd Joseph (an extraordinary Alexis Manenti) is more than a little worried about the surprise visit of these potential buyers he knows well. As a neighbour who sold his land admits, “you don’t say no to these people”. And thus they soon return, armed. The situation gets out of hand (“I became crazy”) and Joseph runs away in the bushes after leaving a dead person behind. He is now wanted by the police and chased by his enemies while his niece Vannina (Mara Taquin) investigates on her own and maintains her uncle’s legend on social media…

Immersed in the sublime landscapes of the Alta Rocca captured by director of photography Jeanne Lapoirie, this contemporary variation of the classical struggle between David and Goliath is a gripping and ultra physical survival story of a man who is nothing like a hero, but who progressively becomes one thanks to the echo chamber of the digital world. Progressing to the rhythm of the fugitive and the music composed by Rone, the script (written by the director) nevertheless addresses directly all the problems that undermine a Corsica where friendship and roots are worth their weight in gold even when death lurks. Frédéric Farrucci succeeds in exposing all the stakes of this uneven fight whose outcome is crucial for the future of the Île de Beauté, under the influence of the concreting of the coastline through touristic perfusion and organised crime, through an excellent genre film paying homage to the Western and which will undoubtedly appeal to all audiences.

The Mohican was produced by Koro Films and co-produced by Atelier de production, Novoprod and Les Films Velvet. Be For Films handles international sales.

(Translated from French)