All Human Wisdom

Some films go beyond the realm of entertainment to become strong and unforgettable works. The Great Swindle won five well-deserved César awards, including the coveted César for Best Adaptation for Albert Dupontel and Pierre Lemaître and Best Director. This film found intact the emotional strength of Pierre Lemaitre's novel and succeeded in transcribing to the screen the 20's and above all in immersing us with a captivating sense of narrative. This novel is part of the trilogy Les Enfants du désastre, the second volume of which is All Human Wisdom (2018) and the third Mirror of our sorrows (2020). It goes without saying that the new film by Clovis Cornillac was really expected and had to be equally successful and captivating. The result far exceeds our expectations and finds intact the charm of those great films that gave French cinema its letters of nobility. A great book, an outstanding film.

Adapting a best-seller is a very complicated exercise, as it is necessary to find all the emotional strength of it but also to put images on a literary narrative. As for The Great Swindle, we find the writer Pierre Lemaitre in charge of the script and the dialogues, who is undoubtedly the best placed to transcribe his own novel to the screen. In this case, All Human Wisdom is undoubtedly one of the strongest films of this year, as it benefits from an inspired direction, a perfect casting and the true love of a great writer who knew how to take part in the birth of a work that highlights the family, courage and also the triumph of a real justice.

All Human Wisdom follows the plot of the original novel and also proposes some changes. The story begins in February 1927 when the whole of Paris is gathered for the funeral of the rich banker Marcel Pericourt. His daughter, Madeleine (Léa Drucker), attends not only her father's funeral but also the suicide attempt of her son Paul who throws himself from the second floor of the Pericourt mansion. Things get even worse when she takes over the reins of her late father's financial empire and finds herself trapped in a plot hatched by Gustave Joubert (Benoît Poelvoorde) (the head of the Banque d'Escompte et de Crédit industriel), Charles Péricourt (Marcel Péricourt's brother) and André Delcourt (a journalist). Ruined by this plot, which led to a very bad investment, Madeleine is forced to move with her son Paul and Vladi, who has become a paraplegic. Driven by a burning desire for revenge, Madeleine, with the help of her former driver played by Clovis Cornillac, will not only take revenge on the three men who destroyed her life, but will also succeed in finding a meaning to her life.

Pierre Lemaitre's novel is not only a fascinating work written with a rare gift of storytelling but above all succeeds in bringing back to life a sad period of history between two wars and in a Europe that will know its dark hours with the rise of fascism and Nazism. The film perfectly adapts the plot of the novel and finds this epic breath already present in the magnificent film by Albert Dupontel. While Clovis Cornillac's acting talents are no longer in question, his first films were more oriented towards popular cinema as is the case for Un peu, beaucoup, aveuglément (2015) and Belle et Sébastien 3: Le Dernier Chapitre (2017). Certainly his previous film C'est magnifique showed a real desire to propose a real vision of a director more mature and more original by moving away from a form of cinema too traditional. Certainly All Human Wisdom imposes him as a seasoned director who has a real sense of tempo and who has a real connection with his screenwriter Pierre Lemaitre which gives this film an emotional strength rarely seen in cinema for a long time.

If the film All Human Wisdom will appeal to those who know the novel by Pierre Lemaitre, it is not only because of the great care given to the photography of the film but also because of the meticulousness of the historical reconstruction and the really striking scenes such as this superb scene in Nazi Germany in which the singer, Solange Gallinato (Fanny Ardant) starts to sing a song forbidden by the Nazi regime before Hitler. Clovis Cornillac was able to surround himself with an excellent cast, including Léa Drucker, Benoît Poelvoorde in a counter-role, Alice Isaaz (an irresistible screen presence), Clovis Cornillac (a difficult role played to perfection), Fanny Ardant, Alban Lenoir and Olivier Gourmet. While French cinema tends to disappoint us by its willingness to be too academic and follow too predictable tracks, All Human Wisdom really makes us want to applaud at the end and especially to dive back into the novels of Pierre Lemaitre whose parents devour each of his new novels. 

All Human Wisdom
Directed by Clovis Cornillac
Produced by Sidonie Dumas 
Written by Pierre Lemaitre
based on his novel Colors of Fire 
Starring Léa Drucker, Benoît Poelvoorde, Alice Isaaz, Clovis Cornillac, Fanny Ardant, Alban Lenoir, Olivier Gourmet, Octave Bossuet, Jana Bittnerova, Philippe Ohrel , Jérémy Lopez 
Music by Guillaume Roussel
Cinematography : Thierry Pouget
Edited by Reynald Bertrand
Production companies : Gaumont, La Company and Umedia
Distributed by Gaumont (France)
Release date : November 9, 2022 (France)
Running time : 134 minutes

Seen on September 29, 2022 at Gaumont Disney Village, Room 14 seat A19 

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