Criminal stories have something unique and fascinating about them. Dark figures, abominable acts, disturbing violence: cinema loves to tell horrible and real stories, which are both scary and attractive, in a contradictory movement of attraction/repulsion.
Among family tragedies, there was the fascinating imposture of Jean-Claude Romand in France, who, in January 1993, killed his wife, children, parents, and attempted suicide after lying for eighteen years, pretending to be a doctor at the World Health Organization. Nicole Garcia adapted it into “L’Adversaire” in 2002, with Daniel Auteuil playing the imposter. Laurent Cantet also made “Time Out” in 2001.
Another major case that has caught the attention of cinema in recent years is the Dupont de Ligonnès case. Five bodies buried in a suburban house in Nantes, the main suspect mysteriously disappeared – is he alive or dead? – his disappearance sparks wild imagination, fueling the craziest theories: the narrative potential is enormous.
Patrizia Mazuy weaved a story around the disappearance of Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès in “Paul Sanchez Has Returned!” (2018). The director explores the theme of the elusive fugitive (played by Laurent Lafitte) in this psychological thriller, placing him wandering in the Var backcountry. She also highlights the fascination that this figure exerts on those who hunt him down.
Manhunt in “Plastic Guns”
Manhunt is at the heart of “Plastic Guns” by Jean-Christophe Meurisse, which unleashes dark and cutting humor in a satirical tragicomedy. The film portrays two amateur investigators and their obsession with the Paul Bernardin case, a fictional alter ego of Dupont de Ligonnès, a man who went on the run after murdering his wife and three children. At the same time, a man is arrested at Copenhagen airport, suspected to be the killer. Meurisse tells both our morbid attraction to crimes and the collective appropriation of a real tragedy to turn it into a game, a quest, entertainment, against a backdrop of conspiracy theories.
The latest development in the case, released on April 1st: “Bad Draw” by Gérard Jugnot, a comedy about the side effects of the case, including the most grotesque ones. In October 2019, Guy Joao, a retired man with no history, was arrested at Glasgow airport, mistaken by the police for Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès. The misunderstanding lasted a few hours, but the media went wild, and social media erupted. The news story becomes more than just a pretext: it is our era on trial in the film.
The Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès case contains material for a grim, horrific thriller, similar to those produced by Chinese, South Korean, or Hong Kong cinemas. However, none of the three French films mentioned above dare to meticulously reconstruct the quintuple murder itself, inside the house on Boulevard Robert-Schuman in Nantes, with Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès in the role of father and presumed killer.
