Karnaval

synopsis

Dunkirk, northern France, February 1998. It's carnival season - a month and a half of festivities, parades and songs that turns the city upside down. After a violent argument with his father, Larbi has decided to flee the family gas station to start a new life in the southern city of Marseille. Forced to spend one last night in Dunkirk, he shelters in a doorway where he is disturbed by Bea and Christian, a tipsy carnival couple returning from a ball. Larbi is charmed by Bea and decides to stick around for a few days to try his luck at convincing her to come with him. By placing his story in the heart of this popular festival, a tradition inherited from the festivals that fishermen held before their departures, Thomas Vincent's film is characterized by its authenticity. He depicts, with poetry and tenderness, a carnival often shown with condescension and scorn.