Misericordia: French Writer-Director Alain (“Stranger by the Lake”) Guiraudie’s Erotic Rural Melodrama

The cast includes French mainstream favorite Catherine Frot (Xavier Giannoli’s Marguerite) as well as newcomers and unfamiliar faces.

Though One of Guiraudie’s more accessible works, the film is defined by a downbeat tone and pared-down, repetitive narrative, which would limit its commercial appeal.

Shot around France’s Cévennes national park, Misericordia starts with the arrival in a small village of Jérémie (Félix Kysyl), a youngster who used to work in a bakery in Toulouse. He comes to attend the funeral of his old friend, village baker Jean-Pierre. The latter’s widow Martine (Frot) welcomes him, and Jérémie suggests to take over the bakery.

Jérémie stays at Martine’s longer than expected, raising suspicion and ager of her firebrand son Vincent (Jean-Baptiste Durand, the director of Junkyard Dogs), convinced that Jérémie would sleep with Martine. In fact, Jérémie was always in love with Jean-Pierre, and now lusts after village loner Walter (David Ayala).

The film becomes a macabre thriller, as Jérémie tries to cover his tracks, while village priest Father Philippe (Jacques Develay) helps Jérémie off the hook for his own reasons.

Jérémie goes from Martine’s house to Walter’s to the local forest, then to Philippe’s church, and back to Martine’s.

Misericordia is replete with with elements of absurdity and jovial raunchiness.  But the film’s meanings shift, just like the erotic desires of the male characters.