Ciné-club nordique : Redoubt

As part of the Ciné-club nordique, which each month showcases the richness and vitality of cinema from our countries, the Institut suédois presents an advance screening of « Redoubt  », a biographical drama directed by John Skoog, with Denis Lavant in the leading role.

At the height of the Cold War, farm labourer Karl-Göran Persson sets out to fortify his house. He salvages scrap metal, which he builds into the walls to erect a fortress intended to protect himself and his neighbours. His efforts baffle everyone except the children. As construction progresses, the conflict with the villagers intensifies. The film is inspired by the life of Karl-Göran Persson, who lived in Scania, in southern Sweden, from 1894 to 1975. Deeply marked by the images and messages conveyed by the brochure « Si la guerre vient  » (Om kriget kommer), distributed several times by the Swedish government from 1943 onwards to prepare the civilian population for war, he turned his house into a shelter using salvaged materials. The redoubt he built at Söderto still stands today.

« This film has been with me for a very long time. Yet I could never imagine that an actor could take on the role of Karl-Göran and do him full justice, so mythical had this character become in my eyes. It was in fact the idea of seeing Denis Lavant play Karl-Göran that allowed me to envisage the film. The film was conceived for him and with him. Before filming, Denis came to Sweden to discover the locations and take part in a practical workshop with some of the artists tasked with rebuilding Karl-Göran's fortification. Everyone was astonished by how quickly he learned, not so much how to perform the gestures as how to give the impression he had always mastered them. To learn Swedish, he worked with my mother, who speaks the southern Swedish dialect, as well as with his collaborator and translator Angelica Ruffier. By coincidence, the "r" sounds of this dialect are very similar to French "r"s.  »