7.2/10
4,335
18 user 132 critic

Dämonen und Wunder - Dheepan (2015)

Dheepan (original title)
Dheepan is a Sri Lankan Tamil warrior who flees to France and ends up working as a caretaker outside Paris.

Director:

Writers:

(dialogue), (screenplay) | 4 more credits »
Reviews
Popularity
2,867 ( 475)
5 wins & 7 nominations. See more awards »
Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

A War (2015)
Drama | War
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

Company commander Claus M. Pedersen (Pilou Asbæk) and his men are stationed in an Afghan province. Meanwhile back in Denmark Claus' wife Maria (Tuva Novotny) is trying to hold everyday life... See full summary »

Director: Tobias Lindholm
Stars: Pilou Asbæk, Tuva Novotny, Dar Salim
Mustang (2015)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

When five orphan girls are seen innocently playing with boys on a beach, their scandalized conservative guardians confine them while forced marriages are arranged.

Director: Deniz Gamze Ergüven
Stars: Günes Sensoy, Doga Zeynep Doguslu, Tugba Sunguroglu
Des dames de coeur (1986–1989)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

The story of four modern women in their forties, facing the hard reality of urban life.

Stars: Dorothée Berryman, Raymond Bouchard, Andrée Boucher
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.4/10 X  

A young boy learns the rituals of what his father and his friends perceive as manhood on a weekend hunting trip.

Director: Francis Mankiewicz
Stars: Guy L'Ecuyer, Marcel Sabourin, Pierre Dufresne
Boney (1972–1973)
Crime
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.5/10 X  
Stars: James Laurenson, Kate Fitzpatrick, David Gulpilil
Great Mysteries (TV Series 1973)
Drama | Mystery
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  
Stars: Orson Welles, Edward Albert, Harry Andrews
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

A young singer-songwriter abandons his life in his hometown and moves to the city to make it big. He achieves fame, but it comes at a price.

Director: Michel Brault
Stars: Claude Gauthier, Geneviève Bujold, Paul Gauthier
Symphorien (TV Series 1968)
Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

The life of several people whose lives revolves around a typical Montreal Guest House at the "Plateau-Mont-Royal" district. The main caracter, Symphorien, is a naive but sympathetic fellow,... See full summary »

Stars: Georges Carrère, Jean Coutu, Rolland D'Amour
La petite patrie (TV Series 1974)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  
Stars: Rolland Bédard, Bertrand Gagnon, Ronald France
Piccolo (TV Series 1968)
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  
Stars: Paul Buissonneau, Michel Cailloux, Guy L'Ecuyer
La p'tite semaine (TV Series 1974)
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  
Stars: Jean Besré, Christiane Delisle, Ousseynou Diop
Jamais deux sans toi (TV Series 1996)
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.2/10 X  
Stars: Jean Besré, Yvon Bilodeau, Margot Campbell
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
...
Brahim
Faouzi Bensaïdi ...
Monsieur Habib
...
Youssouf
Bass Dhem ...
Azziz
Franck Falise ...
Le gardien du Hall C
Joséphine de Meaux ...
La directrice de l'école
...
Le juriste au foyer
Nathan Anthonypillai ...
L'interprète
Vasanth Selvam ...
Colonel Cheran
Kartik Krishnan ...
Le faussaire au Sri Lanka
Rudhra ...
La femme du camp de réfugié
Tassadit Mandi ...
La dame dans l'escalier
Edit

Storyline

Dheepan is a Tamil freedom fighter, a Tiger. In Sri Lanka, the Civil War is reaching its end, and defeat is near. Dheepan decides to flee, taking with him two strangers - a woman and a little girl - hoping that they will make it easier for him to claim asylum in Europe. Arriving in Paris, the 'family' moves from one temporary home to another until Dheepan finds work as the caretaker of a run-down housing block in the suburbs. He works to build a new life and a real home for his 'wife' and his 'daughter', but the daily violence he confronts quickly reopens his war wounds, and Dheepan is forced to reconnect with his warrior's instincts to protect the people he hopes will become his true family. Written by Polly_Kat

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Genres:

Crime | Drama

Certificate:

See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

| |

Release Date:

13 May 2016 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Dämonen und Wunder - Dheepan  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lead actor Jesuthasan Antonythasan was a boy soldier with the Tamil Tigers before fleeing Sri Lanka for France, just like the character he plays in the movie. See more »

Soundtracks

Tour Eiffel
Composed by Bryce Dessner
Performed by Brooklyn Youth Chorus
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.

User Reviews

 
Interesting and provoking film that won Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival
7 November 2015 | by (Santander Spain) – See all my reviews

Dheepan (the first leading role for Jesuthasan Antonythasan) is a Tamil fighter. He flees war-torn Sri Lanka with Yalini (Kalieaswari Srinivasan) and Illayaal (Claudine Vinasithamby), posing as his wife and daughter , hoping that they will make it easier for him to get asylum in Europe . The makeshift family arrives in France and Dheepan finds work as a caretaker for an apartment building that is also a drug front . As Dheepan finds work as the caretaker of a run-down housing block in the suburbs ruled by a nasty gangster (Vincent Rottiers) . But the daily violence he faces off quickly reopens his war wounds , and Dheepan is forced to reconnect with his warrior's instincts to protect his new family .

Jacques Audiard's follow-up to Rust and Bone took home the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival . This thoughtful film has emotion , intense drama , thrills , political events and violence . Dheepan thrives on silence and it results to be a French film shot nearly entirely in Tamil language . A nearly wordless opening showing the eponymous character's tragic departure , the desperate meeting of Dheepan, Yalini, and Illayaal, and the voyage west is particularly effective . Audiard jumps smoothly through time and forces the audience to catch up with only the barest context, producing a marvelously suspenseful prologue . Good performance from Jesuthasan Antonythasan as Dheepan , a Sri Lankan Tamil warrior who flees to France and ends up working as a caretaker outside Paris . Jesuthasan was a boy soldier with the Tamil Tigers before fleeing Sri Lanka for France, just like the character he plays in the movie ; he is a writer, novelist and political activist in real-life . Excellent female lead actors Kalieaswari Srinivasan and Claudine Vinasithamby , both of whom never acted in a feature film before . Special mention for Vincent Rottiers as a tough mobster . Being first feature film of cinematographer Éponine Momenceau who creates an evocative as well as atmospheric cinematography and composer Nicolas Jaar who composes an adequate score . Being shot on location in Mandapam, Tamil Nadu, Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu, Ooty, Tamil Nadu, India and La Coudraie, Poissy, Yvelines, France .

The motion picture was well directed by Jacques Audiard who gets phenomenal interpretations from the three leads , who are all essentially non-actors . Audiard is a good French writer and filmmaker . In the eighties he wrote the screenplays of some successful movies like "Mortelle Randonnee" (1983), "Reveillon Chez Bob" (1984), "Saxo" (1987), "Frequence Meurtre" (1988) and "Grosse Fatigue" (1994). Most of those films were thrillers directed by prestigious filmmakers like Claude Miller and Michel Blanc . He also directed some well received short movies . Thanks to the success of those movies he was able, in 1994, to raise up the money to make his first movie "Regarde Les Hommes Tomber" starred by Mathieu Kassovitz . Kassovitz also became the star of his second movie "Un Heros Tres Discret" released in the Festival de Cannes in 1996 where it won the award for best screenplay. In 2001 he made his third movie "Sur Mes Levres" about a love story between two outsiders . His last movie, "De Battre Mon Coeur Sest Arrête" was released in the Berlin festival of 2005 . His greatest success was ¨A prophet¨ . With those movies, Audiard has become the new master of the "polar" or French thriller and inheritor of others great French directors like Jean-Pierre Melville and Henri Georges-Clouzot .


8 of 8 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Is this realistic? Do such places exist in France? allardd
Cannes winner rojper
No Je Suis Dheepan cmphern
Release Date alfmouth
Sri Lankan Rambo jdrennan-24297
Discuss Dämonen und Wunder - Dheepan (2015) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?