19/08/2009

Among the eight new releases hitting theatres this Wednesday, Wild Bunch Distribution is launching Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu’s original This Is the End [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which was unveiled on the Piazza Grande at the recent Locarno International Film Festival.

Further new releases include German co-production Inglourious Basterds [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by US director Quentin Tarantino (distributed by Universal); Uberto Pasolini’s Sri Lankan/Italian/German co-production Sri Lanka National Handball Team [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Europa Cinemas Label Award at Venice 2008); Attila Gigor’s Hungarian/Swedish/Irish co-production The Investigator (distributed by Les Acacias); Christian Zerbib’s French feature In a Foreign Land, starring Charles Berling, Emmanuel Béart and Josiane Balasko (distributed by Les Films d’Ici); and Jean-Marc Vincent’s French/Luxembourg co-production Lady Blood (distributed by Albany Films).

Adapted from Dominique Noguez’s eponymous novel, This Is the End flirts with highly topical science-fiction (global crisis, virus). The cast includes Mathieu Amalric, Catherine Frot, Karin Viard, Sergi Lopez, Clotilde Hesme and Omahyra Mota.

The film centres on Robinson Laborde, who is gradually recovering from a failed love affair for which he had decided to leave his wife. Despite the imminent end of the world, he sets out on a true amorous odyssey which takes him across France and Spain.

"The film was a new experience for us in many ways: our first adaptation of a novel and exploration of the road-movie genre, with a multitude of different characters and violent action scenes," commented Arnaud Larrieu. "We started from the popular idea that we see our life flash in front of us before we die. Robinson revisits his past and, at the same time, the locations return to their primitive state (…) Faced with catastrophe, the characters ask themselves new questions: what should they do, with whom, why? Suddenly, their destiny emerges, from old, hidden desires."

Jean-Marie Larrieu believes that This Is the End "is both an intimate and dramatic film" with "a mixture of pessimism, for the world collapses, and adventurous spirit".

Produced by Soudaine Compagnie in co-production with Arena Films, France 2 Cinéma and Spain’s Mallerich Films and Estrategia Audiovisual, This Is the End was pre-bought by Canal +, Ciné Cinéma and Televisio de Catalunya. It also received backing from the ICAA, Pyrenees and Aquitaine regions.

International sales are being handled by Memento Films.

(Translated from French)