With his second feature as a writer-director, renowned Corsican actor Thierry de Peretti delivers a revealing look at the political and criminal turmoil that have long plagued his native island, at times rivallingFrancis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather in terms of emotional  richness and narrative complexity. Set in the 1990s, a period when Corsica
hovered on the edge of civil war, A Violent Life follows Stéphane, a Corsican student who gets sucked into radical nationalist circles and eventually goes underground to join the armed struggle. De Peretti’s great achievement is the empathy with which he treats the young man’s misguided but in some ways justified actions: while the out-come of his decisions is unarguably tragic, the film provides a genuine understanding of the conditions that push young people to take up arms. And while what makes A Violent Life so powerful is clearly the director’s knowledge of a specific socio-political context, its insightsabout  nationalism and insurrection are applicable to many situationsthroughout history and in  present day. As such, it is essential viewing.

DIRECTOR
Thierry de Peretti

SCREENPLAY
Thierry de Peretti
Guillaume Bréaud

CAST
Jean Michelangeli
Henri-Noël Tabary
Cédric Appietto

DETAILS
Drama
French
107 min.
France, 2017