“There’s an element of Greek tragedy”: Alain Guiraudie on Misericordia
Alain Guiraudie’s Misericordia dissects the tensions of desire, guilt and faith in a quiet, insular French village. The film follows Jérémie (Félix Kysyl), who returns for his former employer’s funeral, only to find himself entangled in old relationships and long-buried conflicts – particularly with Martine (Catherine Frot) and his childhood friend Vincent (Jean-Baptiste Durand). A sudden act of violence sends him into the care of the local priest (Jacques Develay), whose motivations remain elusive. Guiraudie works noir-tinged suspense into the darkly comic exploration of repression, morality and the influence of Catholicism on personal and collective guilt, all while capturing the rhythms of village life.
Ahead of the film’s UK release, Guiraudie spoke to The Upcoming about the sources of his inspiration, ranging from his own life and fantasies to Euripides’s tragedies. He also discussed his casting choices and the symbolic significance of the boulangerie, which sits at the heart of both the village and the events of Misericordia.
Hi Alain, it’s so lovely to speak with you today. Would you like to begin by sharing what audiences can expect from Misericordia?
I will say, very simply, what previous audiences have said to me: that they came out of it very moved, slightly perturbed or overwhelmed, and they laughed a lot. They’re surprised – it’s something that audiences have really reflected on. They were often caught by surprise.
How did the inspiration for this film first take shape?
I get inspiration, really, from my life, from my designs, and my fantasies, but I also add to this inspiration I get from films I’ve seen – I get a lot of inspiration from films I’ve seen. I’m thinking specifically of the character of the priest in the film – that’s a very kind of common character that you find in French cinema, the figure of the priest is a recurrence.
The casting in Misericordia is exceptional. How did you approach casting your four leading characters – Jérémie, Martine, Father Philippe and Vincent, and what qualities were you specifically looking for in the actors you chose?
I looked for different things in different actors. For example, Félix Kysyl, who plays Jérémie, had to be able to restitute a kind of ambiguity. Jacques Delavay, the actor who plays the priest, had to have a certain solemnity and malice. And it was something different for Catherine Frot, something different for the actor who plays Martine, but the overarching thing that I was looking for was simplicity. I looked for actors that are able to stay simple in their performance but at the same time render great complexity. And lastly, I like to work with actors, and I look for actors I like to work with – essentially, ones that I have a desire for.
The late Jean-Pierre’s boulangerie plays a central role in the events of Misericordia, but does the bakery hold a broader significance in any way?
I think so, in a way. Symbolically, we could talk about the role of bread in Catholicism, and that would be symbolically rendered in the bakery. But in a more tangible sense, Jean-Pierre’s actual, physical bakery serves as a pillar of the community in those rural villages. In the same way, you have the priest, the local teacher and the mayor; you have the local boulangerie, the bakery – it’s a central figure in all those little village communities.”
The small, rural village where Misericordia unfolds is both supportive and suffocating, particularly for Jérémie as he returns. How did you depict the complexities and dualities of provincial life?
I’m not trying to make a film about a village or about village life in general. I’m very much making a film about those four or five characters who live in a village. But to some extent, the way in which my own experience of having grown up in a village informs this film is the fact that in such a place, everyone sort of knows what’s going on and tries to guess what’s going on with other people. There is lots of talk and gossip, and that kind of informs the way the characters behave.
Since misericordia is the Latin word for “mercy,” how does the Catholic concept of mercy manifest in the film, particularly through the characters?
I think the character of the priest pushes these concepts – things like mercy, compassion and the fate of others – their limits, especially in how they affect the lives of other people. He tests the very edges of these ideas to see how far they can go. Ultimately, this idea of mercy really concerns the figure of the priest.
And does your film’s original French title, Miséricorde, in any way reference the ritualistic dagger of the same name, used in the High Middle Ages for mercy killings of mortally wounded knights?
(Laughs) No, I didn’t know that.
You have cited Ingmar Bergman as an inspiration. Is there a specific Ingman Bergman movie, scene or element that you drew inspiration from?
I think, in an overarching way, Bergman inspires my work, but not directly for this film. And as for the films I think about specifically, I’d say maybe Persona (1966) in terms of the close-ups, and Wild Strawberries (1957) in terms of the general atmosphere of the film. But they’re not quite direct sources of inspiration for this film.
Misericordia has been described by many as a noir. How do you feel about this?
I think it is pretty apt. I’d say, actually, that the script was darker than the eventual film, where there are injections of comedy, but yeah, when you think back to this, it seems like, you know, the killer digging up and burying the body. They’re very typical of noir.
Aside from the noir tradition, what other genres or practices did you draw from in making Misericordia?
I’d say maybe in certain scenes, like when the priest has an erection and things like that, they are kind of drawn from popular theatre, street theatre, that sort of thing. My previous films take from that much more so, but this one has scenes drawn from them.
Could you elaborate on the film’s theatrical influences, especially the work of Euripides, whom you’ve referenced before?
Thank you very much for reminding me that I said this. In fact, I think I said it because I felt they had more to draw from Euripides than a crime novel. And there’s an element of Greek tragedy in the film. And in fact, there’s something very Oedipal about Jeremy going back and basically sleeping with the figure of the mother.
Christina Yang
Misericordia is released in select cinemas on 28th March 2025.
Watch the trailer for Misericordia here:
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