Cavale (2002)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Lucas Belvaux

Writer:

Lucas Belvaux (writer)

Release Date:

8 January 2003 (France)

Genre:

Thriller | Crime | Drama

Plot:

After nearly fifteen years behind bars, lefty revolutionary Bruno escapes and heads back to Grenoble...

Plot Keywords:

Escape | Revolutionary | Grenoble France | Drug Dealing | Left Wing

Awards:

8 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Lucas Belvaux	...	Bruno Le Roux
Catherine Frot	...	Jeanne Rivet
Dominique Blanc	...	Agnès Manise
Ornella Muti	...	Cécile Costes
Gilbert Melki	...	Pascal Manise
Patrick Descamps	...	Jacquillat
Olivier Darimont	...	Francis
Alexis Tomassian	...	Banane
Yves Claessens	...	Freddy
Christine Henkart	...	Madame Guiot
Jean-Henri Roger	...	Neighbor in Burning Apartment
Elie Belvaux	...	Jeanne's Son
Hervé Livet	...	Jean-Jean
Eric Vassard	...	Henchman
Zirek	...	Secret Agent 1
Thomas Badek	...	Secret Agent 2
Bourlem Guerdjou	...	Teacher
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pénélope Darnat
Jean-Philippe Naeder	...	Secret agent 3
Hervé Peyrard	...	ONF Guard

Directed by
Lucas Belvaux

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Lucas Belvaux		writer

Produced by
Diana Elbaum	....	producer
Patrick Sobelman	....	producer
Arlette Zylberberg	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Riccardo Del Fra

Cinematography by
Pierre Milon

Film Editing by
Ludo Troch

Production Design by
Frédérique Belvaux

Costume Design by
Cécile Cotten

Makeup Department
Sylvia Carissoli	....	key makeup artist
Valeria Marchetti	....	makeup artist: Ornella Muti
Gérard Valmer	....	key hair stylist

Production Management
Pascal Bonnet	....	production manager
Bertrand Girard	....	assistant production manager
Michael Halimi	....	unit manager: Grenoble
Pierre Huot	....	post-production supervisor
Karine Petite	....	second assistant unit manager
Roxanne Pinheiro	....	unit manager
Eric Vassard	....	assistant unit manager
Sophie Vermersch	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Olivier Fernandez	....	second assistant director
Julien Greco	....	trainee assistant director: Grenoble
Agathe Hassenforder	....	trainee assistant director
Dominique Heinry	....	second assistant director
Christophe Marillier	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Mathieu Bonnet	....	carpenter
Laurent Garenne	....	constructor
Mireille Gauron	....	upholsterer
Olivier Guyader	....	head carpenter
Brigitte Lefranc	....	painter
Joss Philopémon	....	assistant decorator
Julien Poitou-Weber	....	property master (as Julien Poitou Weber)
Christine Rey	....	upholsterer
Gedeon Rudrauf	....	painter (as Gédéon Rudrauf)
Christophe Simonotti	....	head carpenter
Valérie Valéro	....	set dresser
Alain Villette	....	constructor

Sound Department
Quentin Collette	....	sound recordist
Marie Guesnier	....	additional sound
Dimitri Haulet	....	assistant sound
Jo Masset	....	post-synchronization engineer
Pierre Mertens	....	additional sound
Christian Monheim	....	sound
Gérard Rousseau	....	sound mixer
Luc Thomas	....	assistant re-recording mixer
Philippe van Leer	....	foley artist
Béatrice Wick	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
Christophe Messaoudi	....	special effects
Jacques-Olivier Molon	....	special effects
Pierre Olivier Persin	....	special effects
Erwan Simon	....	special effects

Stunts
Stéphane Boulay	....	stunts
Cyrille Hertel	....	stunts
Karim Hocini	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Olivier Abelé	....	electrician
Julien Bert	....	electrician
Senda Bonnet	....	trainee assistant camera
Michel Bubola	....	gaffer
Loïc Limosin	....	electrician
Patrick Llopis	....	key grip
Dunn Meas	....	still photographer
Patrice Milet	....	gaffer (as Pierre Millet)
Eric Pailley	....	electrician
Mathilde Perreau	....	second assistant camera
Morgan Policand	....	assistant grip
Nicolas Rideau	....	first assistant camera
Bruno Seffino	....	electrician
Caroline Swarowsky	....	second assistant camera
Julien Tabary	....	electrician

Casting Department
Gerda Diddens	....	casting: Belgium
Evy Figliolini	....	casting: Paris

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Marine Chauveau	....	wardrobe
Jooyun Gonnet	....	assistant costumer

Editorial Department
Axel De Vignon	....	trainee assistant editor
Gordana Othnin-Girard	....	assistant editor
Dirk Vandewalle	....	color timer

Other crew
Flore Bois	....	production assistant
Frédéric Bouchet	....	assistant production administrator
Sandrine Bourgoin	....	trainee script supervisor
Michel Dalmet	....	groupman
Marie-Christine Damiens	....	press attache
Marie Danis	....	assistant production administrator
Abdelhadi El Fakir	....	production administrator
Hanane El Fakir	....	assistant production administrator
Thierry Engler	....	groupman
Renée Falson	....	script supervisor
Frédérique Larmagnac	....	production assistant: RTBF
Marie Lefort	....	assistant location manager
Valérie Novel	....	assistant location manager

Production Companies

• Agat Films & Cie
• Canal+
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC)
• Cofimage 12
• Entre Chien et Loup
• Eurimages
• Gimages 5
• Natexis Banques Populaires Images 2
• Radio Télévision Belge Francophone (RTBF)
• Rhône-Alpes Cinéma

Distributors

• Magnolia Pictures (2004) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Stadtkino Verleih (Austria) (theatrical)
• A-Film Distribution
• Diaphana Films
• Hart Sharp Video
• KOOL Filmdistribution (Germany)

Also Known As:

Trilogy: One (Europe: English title) (UK)
On the Run (International: English title)
One (UK)

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence, drug use and language.

Runtime:

Canada:117 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | France:111 min | USA:117 min

Country:

France | Belgium

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Brazil:16 | France:-12 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | USA:Unrated

Company:

Agat Films & Cie

Trivia:

Forms a trilogy along with Après la vie (2002) and Un couple épatant (2002), the main characters of this one being the supporting actors in the other ones, and vice versa. The three movies have some scenes in common which are shown from a different point of view according to the storyline we're following.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Après la vie (2002)

Part 1 needs to be Seen with Part 2 and Part 3

"On the Run (Cavale)" is the first third of an engrossing experiment in story telling that crosses "Rashomon" with a television miniseries to show us an ensemble of intersecting characters over a couple of days to gradually reveal the complicated truth about each.

Writer/director Lucas Belvaux uses a clever technique to communicate just how differently the characters perceive the same situations-- they are literally in different movies and, a la "Rules of the Game," everyone has their reasons.

"On the Run"is a tense, fast-paced escaped con on-the-run Raoul Walsh-feeling film, with the auteur himself playing a Humphrey Bogart-type who can be cruel or kind; "An Amazing Couple (Un couple épatant)" is an Ernest Lubitch-inspired laugh-out-loud comedy of mistaken communication; and "After the Life (Après la vie)" is a Sidney Lumet-feeling gritty, conflicted cop melodrama with seamy and tender moments.

"Time Code" experimented turning the two-dimensions of film into three with multiple digital video screens. This trilogy is more effective in showing us what happens as characters leave the frame. Belvaux goes beyond the techniques used in the cancelled TV series "Boomtown" or the films of Alejandro González Iñárritu in "Amores Perros" and "21 Grams" with their stream-of-consciousness flashbacks character by character.

I don't see how I can deal with each film separately. Theoretically, one can see the three movies alone or independently out of order, but that would be like watching one episode of a series like "The Wire" or "The Sopranos" and wondering what the big deal is. Only a handful of patrons in my theater joined me in a one-day triple-feature; I guess the others have a better memory than I do that they could see each film on separate days, though a marathon does inevitably lead to some mind-wandering that could miss important clues and revelations so this is ideal for a triple-packed DVD.

On DVD we'll be able to replay the excellent acting to see if in fact the actors do shade their performances differently when particular scenes are enacted from different characters' viewpoints -- are these takes from the same staging or not? How is each subtly different that we get a different impression each time? Or are we bringing our increasing knowledge (and constantly changing sympathies) about each character to our impressions of the repeating scenes?

One reason this conceit works is because of the unifying theme of obsession - each character is so completely single-minded in their focus on one issue that they are blind to what else is happening even as they evolve to find catharsis. One is literally a heroin addict, but each has their psychological addiction (revenge, co-dependence, hypochondria, jealousy).

The slow revelation technique also works because of the parallel theme of aging and acceptance of the consequences of their actions, as some can face how they have changed and some can't change. You need to see all three films to learn about each character's past and conclusion, as secondary characters in one film are thrust to the fore in another in explaining a key piece of motivation.

The only place they really interchange is in an ironically, meaningless political debate at the public high school they each have some tie to.