A good man

"Four years ago, I took part in the production of Coby, a documentary by Christian Sonderegger, the co-screenwriter of A good man and an assistant director on my previous films. COBY tells the story of the female-to-male transition journey of Jacob, Christian's brother. The film ends with Jacob facing a huge decision: either go through with the hysterectomy that was planned at the end of his transition or keep his reproductive organs a while longer. Proceeding with the surgery meant that Jacob would give up on starting a family with his partner, Sarah, who was really scared of being pregnant and did not wish to carry a child. This irrevocable decision tormented him. His dilemma really struck me, and I talked about it for a long time with Jacob. This man, who had already been brave enough to undertake the transition process, was now considering what many people regard as the ultimate transgression: male pregnancy. Because he did not want to give up on being a father." - Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar

The new film written and directed by Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar after Ma première fois (2011), Bowling (2012), Les héritiers (2015), Le ciel attendra (2016) and la fête des mères (2017) tackles with intelligence and modesty the difficult theme of women having changed sex to become a man and having to be surrogate mothers for their couple. In a society that is hardly permissive, such a subject is inevitably debated and leads, as we heard during the Deauville festival, to protests of all kinds at numerous sites.

Everyone will have their own position on this subject and our position is not to sound any kind of alert but to give our opinion on a film perfectly mastered and interpreted to perfection by two great actresses, Noémie Merlant (Le retour du héros (2018), Portrait de la jeune fille en feu (2019)...) and Soko (A l'origine (2008), La danseuse (2016)...).

By tackling universal themes such as the desire for parenthood, the search for one's own identity and by openly asking the question of what is a woman/father and a man/father and by playing on the duality of Benjamin's character (Noémie Merlant), the film is easily open to reflection and proves to be fascinating but also exposed to multiple remarks. The two flashbacks that present Benjamin before his transition allow us to better understand his state of mind and the doubts and hesitations he had when he became a mother.

One will also appreciate the fact that the film is not set in a city that is too often shown in the cinema but places the set on the beautiful Breton island of Groix in Brittany and thus benefits from an interesting and perfectly highlighted natural setting. The numerous scenes shot outdoors bring an important breath of oxygen and give this film an undeniable added value.

A good man
Directed by Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar
Produced by Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar
Written by Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar, Christian Sonderegger
Starring Noémie Merlant, Soko, Vincent Dedienne, Gabriel Almaer, Alysson Paradis, Anne Loiret, Geneviève Mnich, Jonas
Cinematography: Myriam Vinocour
Edited by Benoît Quinon
Production companies: Willow Films, Scope Pictures
Distributed by Pyramide Distribution (France)
Release date: March, 3 2021 (France)
Running time; 108mns

Seen on September 6, 2020 at the Centre International de Deauville

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