Frontier of the Dawn

Frontier of the Dawn also Frontier of Dawn (French: La Frontière de l'aube) is a 2008 French drama film directed by Philippe Garrel. It stars Louis Garrel, Laura Smet, and Clémentine Poidatz.[2] It tells the story of a photographer who is haunted by the ghost of his dead lover. It was screened at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival in competition.[3] It was released in France on 8 October 2008.[4]

Frontier of the Dawn
Original French poster
FrenchLa Frontière de l'aube
Directed byPhilippe Garrel
Written byMarc Cholodenko
Arlette Langmann
Produced byEdouard Weil
StarringLouis Garrel
Laura Smet
Clémentine Poidatz
CinematographyWilliam Lubtchansky
Edited byYann Dedet
Music byJean-Claude Vannier
Distributed byLes Films du Losange
Release dates
  • 22 May 2008 (2008-05-22) (Cannes)
  • 8 October 2008 (2008-10-08) (France)
Running time
106 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Box office$242,000[1]

Plot

François, a handsome young photographer who has been commissioned to take pictures of Carole, an actress, calls at her apartment when she is lunching with friends. Next day she books a hotel room for a photo shoot and seduces him. Her husband is on a long assignment in Hollywood and the two have an intense affair, ending at dawn one day when the husband arrives back early.

While François keeps his distance and gets on with his work, Carole pines for him. She drinks when alone, sets her apartment on fire, and is confined in a psychiatric hospital. When eventually released, all she wants is François, but he has met Ève, a more balanced young woman who falls pregnant almost immediately. Going back to the bottle, Carole ends up dead.

Though Ève's father is all in favour of her marrying and is willing to support the young couple, François is haunted by his lost passion for Carole and guilt over her death. She comes to him in dreams and then starts appearing when he looks in a mirror, asking him to join her. As he is dressing for his wedding, he jumps from the window to his death.

Cast
  • Louis Garrel as François
  • Laura Smet as Carole
  • Clémentine Poidatz as Ève
  • Olivier Massart as Ève's father
  • Jérôme Robart as François' friend
  • Emmanuel Broche as François' friend
  • Cédric Vieira as François' friend
  • Grégory Gadebois as Carole's friend
  • Vladislav Galard as Carole's friend
  • Julie Pouillon as Carole's friend

Release

The film had its world premiere in the Competition section at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival on 22 May 2008.[5] It was released in France on 8 October 2008.[4]

Reception

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 50% based on 6 reviews, and an average rating of 6.1/10.[6]

Aaron Cutler of Slant Magazine wrote: "At times Frontier feels more like homage than like a film in its own right, but if its goal is to pay tribute to the dead, lost, and forgotten, then a reheated quality may be precisely the point."[7] Karina Longworth of IndieWire wrote: "Hands down the most accessible Garrel film I've seen, it's still a strange, swoony, genre-bending challenge."[8]

Writing for The New Yorker, Richard Brody listed it as one of the best films of 2009.[9]

References
  1. "Frontier of the Dawn". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  2. Brody, Richard (23 February 2009). "The Frontier of Dawn". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 18 July 2010. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  3. Felperin, Leslie (22 May 2008). "Frontier of Dawn". Variety. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  4. Lemercier, Fabien (8 October 2008). "Khamsa's young gypsy wins over critics". Cineuropa. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  5. Collett-White, Mike (25 May 2008). "Epic film "Che" looks at guerrilla's life and death". Reuters. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  6. "La Frontiere de l'Aube (Frontier of the Dawn)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  7. Cutler, Aaron (16 March 2009). "La Belle Personne (Christophe Honoré) and Frontier of Dawn (Philippe Garrel)". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  8. Longworth, Karina (6 March 2009). "Review: Frontier of Dawn". IndieWire. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  9. Brody, Richard. "Best of 2009". The New Yorker. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
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