This article was originally published in Figaro Magazine.

They are of the same blood, but don’t know each other. She, a high school student, motherless, vaguely in love with a boy her own age, fascinated by the world around her father in which she grew up: the Corsica eternal, beautiful, wild, violent, ritualistic, masculine. He, Pierre-Paul, her father, hidden, hunted down, made for the education of a young girl like Louis Boyard for rhythmic gymnastics, and living only to maintain the unity of his thuggish clan and keep himself alive. Summer arrives (1995). Lesia is sent by her aunt on vacation to stay with her father, who lives reclusively in a villa, surrounded by relatives who look the part: like hoodlums. But nice crooks. Polite. Gallant. Respectful.

Problem number 1 his arrival coincides with a resurgence of violence on the island. Armed attacks and car explosions follow one another. For once, the nationalists have nothing to do with it. We’re just out to get Pierre Paul. Destroy his clan. The response of the Corsican shepherd to the shepherdess, bloody reprisals, etc.: we know the song. Sad polyphony.

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Problem number 2 the little girl wants to take part in the fight. Not so much out of an atavistic taste for violence as to finally get her father’s attention. How do you say “Electra complex” in Corsican?

Problem number 3Lesia proves talented enough to help the gang. Her character and temperament do the rest: she is accepted.

Problem number 4 Pierre-Paul discovers an unsuspected paternal instinct. But how else can he grasp its full beauty than by keeping Lesia close to him. In the midst of danger.

Problem number 5which is in fact the real problem number one: we’re in Corsica, where many family stories end badly. Like in Greek or Shakespearean kingdoms.

Julien Colonna’s dazzlingly atmospheric film proves that it’s possible to tell and show the story of Corsica, its soul, its cruelty and its splendor, without being called a “film”. Jérôme Ferrari. At once tough and moving, this is a family chronicle and a film noir that draws on Western codes, The Kingdom (in cinemas November 13) boasts a solid script, a shocking (if predictable) finale and two serious, apt performances: Ghjuvanna Benedetti and Saveriu Santucci.