12/11/2024 - Jean-Paul Rouve shines in Xavier Beauvois’ classic and moving film about a man teetering on the edge who commits to sailing around the world… from his garden

"You’re ridiculous and pathetic". There are times when people who are caught up in negative spirals, caused by very real wounds, stubborn weaknesses and self-pity which are made numb by addiction, reach a point of no return where only two roads remain open to them: falling apart or redemption. This is the case for the protagonist of the simple and poignant movie Sailing Home, which is the 9th feature film by Xavier Beauvois (awarded trophies in Cannes in 1995 and 2010 having also competed twice in Venice and once in Berlin in 2021) and which is due for release in French cinemas on 13 November, courtesy of Pathé.

"He’s getting what he deserves. Does he always drink this much?" For his son, Ferdinand (Joseph Olivennes), who has kept a distance from his father for three years now, Jean-Paul (Jean-Paul Rouve) is beyond redemption. It’s true that the manager and chef of the restaurant Les 40èmes Rugissants in Fouesnant, on the Brittany coast, has suffered quite a few setbacks: his private life as a widower, raising young Camille (Madeleine Beauvois) on his own, is up and down, the family firm is on the verge of bankruptcy, which leaves him obliged to move house after the forced sale of his home, and then there’s his pronounced penchant for drinking, which doesn’t help relations with his loved ones ("why are you looking at me like that? Why doesn’t anyone believe in me?"), including his father (Pierre Richard) who also lives with them.

In short, Jean-Paul, who’s not a bad guy by any means, is at rock bottom and drowning his failures in vodka. But, inside, he dreams of adventure and is lost in his imagination, and he projects these fantasies onto the Vendée Globe, the famous single-handed, round-the-world yacht race, an event which he took part in previously, in his very own way, by sitting in front of his computer and joining Virtual Regatta (alongside 1 million other internet users). But this time round, he decides to embark upon this virtual challenge (promising 150,000 euros to the winner) under some very special conditions: he will confine himself to the boat which decorates the garden of his restaurant for three whole months. Is this idea the desperate craze of an alcoholic mind? A preposterous project? Jean-Paul gets ready as if a professional (equipping himself with a wind turbine, a solar panel, food rations, medical supplies, etc.) under the dubious but loving eyes of his father and daughter. And then the day of the departure arrives…

Penned by the director together with Gioacchino Campanella and Marie-Julie Maille, the film’s audacious and classic screenplay which unfolds within a very tight perimeter (primarily inside the boat and the restaurant with a view onto the garden) provides the brilliant Jean-Paul Rouve with an incredibly poignant role (especially vis-à-vis the withdrawal scenes) and tells a pleasing, positive tale about introspection, communication, reconciliation and family ("he thought he was touring the world when it was actually his own little world that he was touring") against a backdrop of a passion for sailing (with Jean Le Cam and Michel Desjoyeaux playing themselves) and eco-responsibility. This is new ground for the filmmaker who has stepped outside of his cinematographic comfort zone ("passion and determination can lead us to the most unexpected of places") in the same way as legendary sailor Bernard Moitessier, who took himself away so as "to be happy at sea and maybe to save my soul too".

Sailing Home was produced by Les Films du Worso in co-production with France 3 Cinéma, Les films du Monsieur and Pathé. The latter are also steering international sales.

(Translated from French)