THEO AND THE METAMORPHOSIS (2022)
Théo et les métamorphoses (original title)
Drama | Language: French | Subtitles: English
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SYNOPSIS
In a remote house in the forest, Théo, a young man with Down’s syndrome, lives in seclusion with his father who is a photographer. The two get along in their daily lives without much talk. Théo loves nature and has a passion for drawing. Every day he spends time training his body, his balance, his reflexes and his inner strength, and dreams of becoming a samurai. When his father goes away to an exhibition, Théo decides to start a new life and his extraordinary journey begins.
Winner of the Grand Prix at the New Horizons Film Festival in Poland, French writer/director Damien Odoul’s film features an amazing performance from Théo Kermel, as a man with Down’s syndrome, left to fend for himself in the forest after his father goes away. Odoul shows us the world from Théo’s perspective, in dreamlike surreal compositions. Constantly accompanied by his inner voice, Théo’s thoughts and emotions are brought to life in a dynamic, ever-changing visual language. His desires unfold in a flood of impressions and experiences, and the days alone in the forest become a journey of self-discovery and self-determination.
Sometimes hallucinatory, often shocking, explicit and deeply erotic, punctuated with bursts of frenetic music and line animations, Theo and the Metamorphosis is a unique, provocative and powerful meditation on our connection to nature, to other people, and identity.
PRESS QUOTES
“Théo Kermel gives a bold, daring performance… moments of true beauty and pathos.” - The Upcoming
“A sensational, fragmented experience.” - Cineuropa
“It is almost impossible to predict which direction this unusual film will take at any point.” - icsfilm.org
“A utopian odyssey.” - Girls At Films
CAST & CREW
Cast - Theo Kermel, Pierre Meunier, Ayumi Roux
Director - Damien Odoul
Cinematographer - Damien Odoul, Sylvain Rodriguez
Screenplay - Damien Odoul, Natsuki Ikezawa (novel)
Producers - Andreas Roald, Dan Wechsler, Alexandre Perrier
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Damien Odoul was born in 1968 in Le Puy, Haute-Loire, France. Since 1988, he has written and directed seven feature films, including Morasseix (1992), which was selected in Venice Days in 2004, Errance, starring Laetitia Casta and Benoît Magimel, Le Souffle (Deep Breath), winner of the Grand Jury Prize and the Fipresci Award at the 58th Venice Film Festival in 2001, La Peur (The Fear) which was awarded the Prix Jean Vigot for Best Feature Film in 2015.
He is also a poet; his Poèmes du milieu from 1 to 88 were performed at the Festival d’Avignon and broadcast on France Culture, a French public radio channel. In 2007, he exhibited a video and photographic installation, Virtual fight and lymphatic, at the Kamel Mennour Gallery in Paris. In 2013, Odoul co-founded Sylvart, an experimental and innovative project in which disabled artists are invited to create and live a unique experience linking art brut and the environment.