To the Extreme

In extremis
(2000) France

Directed by: Etienne Faure
Writing credits: Etienne Faure

Cast
Sébastien Roch ....Thomas
Julie Depardieu ....Anne
Jérémy Sanguinetti ....Grégoire
Christine Boisson....Caroline
Aurélien Wiik....Vincent

The main character in the 2000 French indie film "In extremis" (To The Extreme) is Thomas, a self-absorbed 20-something bisexual part-time hustler (and full time "party boy") who is sexual relationships with a male and several women, including his own sister Anne, who works as a prostitute. One of his affairs is with an older neighbor single mother of a 13 year old son, and he is there to comfort the son when the mother passes away suddenly. The boy wants to live with Thomas, but he has neither the focus nor the maturity to care for him, a fact that is recognized by the authorities who send the boy to an orphanage.

The film is quite pretentious and faux "arty" with scenes of Thomas with his bohemian crowd, and of nightmare-like flashbacks of him wandering on a snowy mountain looking for his (and Anne's) dead parents. Unfortunately, the entire film seems sureal after a while, and one really doesn't connect with the characters, despite some decent acting from the young actor who plays 13 year old Gregorie, and the promise of Gerard Depardieu's daughter (Julie, who plays Anne) in the cast. Better direction could have made it a much better film.

In French with English or Spanish subtitles (which likely were a plus, since I doubt even someone who speaks fluent French would have caught every word of the mumbled dialogue), cinematography is a pleasant positive. Some male and female partial nudity, simulated sexual acts, but surprisingly not very erotic.

The French title of this film is IN EXTREMIS (though translated as TO THE EXTREME) and means 'in desperate circumstances, especially at the point of death'. Rethinking the story of this interesting but problematic movie in those terms after viewing gives the cinematic effort more poignancy. This is a tale of the impact of family, loss of parents, dissolution of the core unit has on us all: in this story we are asked to exam the 'in extremis' state of such trauma.

Thomas (Sebastien Roch) is a hedonist, a handsome young man whose parents died in an Alpine accident, and a man who sleeps with both sexes in a confused state of true identity. He lives with one of his female lovers who has a young teenage son Gregoire (Jeromy Sanguinetti) whom he loves as a son. When the mother accidentally dies, Gregoire wants Thomas to be his guardian. Thomas' lifestyle does not lend itself to fatherhood and though he deeply loves Gregoire, by law and by proclivity he cannot assume the role of foster parent. Even with the aid of his prostitute sister Anne (Julie Depardieu) he is unable to keep the disappointed Gregoire from being sent to a prison-like orphanage. Thomas finds solace from his lover Vincent (Aurelien Wiik) and from his excursions into the bohemian all night orgies where he attempts to forget his promise to be available at all times for Gregoire. Eventually Thomas' devotion to Gregoire overcomes his hedonistic addiction and results in his aiding the boy's escape from the orphanage to move with him to the home in Ibiza his deceased parents owned. The story has a bizarre but touching ending, which comes totally unexpectedly, and revealing it would ruin the impact and message of the film.

SEBASTIEN ROCH

Born on December 3, 1972 in Toulouse.

Sebastien has as a passion the music and all that relates to the spectacle.
He looked at already the groups which occurred in the discotheque of his/her parents.
Candidate actor, it had assembled a troop with friends.
At fifteen years the madness becomes terrible and it decides to leave Toulouse for Paris, several years of course of theatre, the appearances on scene, and on television.

Sebastien decides it will be an actor, it likes also the music, leaves several individual and an album “SILENCE”, in 1992, after several concerts and a round, it will take again his trade of actor with short films, telefilms and also of the full-length films “In extremis " in 1998 and also of the theatre “the COFFEE OF the PINKS” of Carine Lacroix in 2003