The Courageous
In Jasmin Gordon’s totally persuasive Swiss drama, Ophélia Kolb excels as a loving mother unfitted to her parental role.
Ophélia Kolb
Image courtesy of MetFilm Distribution.
The end credits on this first feature film directed by Jasmin Gordon contain one item that is most unusual. The Courageous which is set in the Valais region of Switzerland has four central players, three of whom portray the children of a single mother named Jule, a role taken by Ophélia Kolb. The oldest child is Claire (Jasmine Kalisz Saurer), the older boy is Loïc (Paul Besnier) and the younger son is Sami (Arthur Devaux). That special credit expresses Gordon’s thanks to all four of them and in doing so describes their contribution as extraordinary and magnificent. For a director to praise her players in such an extravagant way is uncommon to say the least, but happily in this case it is entirely justified. Even so and brilliant as the acting is, the film is one which may have problems in getting on terms with its audience. It certainly did so with me in spite of it containing so much that is admirable.
The film is a totally persuasive portrait of Jule and of the three children that she is bringing up and it may be that the title, Les courageux in the original and thus clearly plural, is an indication that Gordon sees all four family members as being courageous despite the fact that Jule herself is a remarkably unsettling central figure. What is for sure is that the filmmaker herself is being courageous in making her chief character so off-putting. It is not that Jule is an unloving mother – far from it – but her past history and her present state of mind would seem to make her unfitted for parenthood. That becomes apparent early on but we are readily drawn into the film by two things. One is the fact that the cast ensure that we absolutely believe in the characters depicted and the other lies in the strong appeal that derives from Gordon's decision to portray events from the viewpoint of the children. Claire, the oldest, is only ten years old – her brothers are eight and six respectively – and the child players are not only good individually but convey vividly the sense of the sibling connection.
The Courageous has been shot in wide screen which suits the Swiss location and this is handled in such a way that it never robs the film of its sense of intimacy. The opening of the piece indicates the situation that the children are in and does so in a most economical way. We see how Jule driving out with them one day takes them into a café and then slips away indicating that she will be back in a few minutes. The kids have just one lemonade to share between them as they wait, but Jule does not return and the proprietress sees that they have been abandoned and calls the authorities. However, the children are used to this kind of thing and choose to run off and to make their own hazardous way home. It is only at night that Jule rejoins them there.
As the film proceeds it presents day-to-day events rather than providing any actual details of Jule's past history but nevertheless we can make some assessment of Jule for ourselves. She has clearly been caught out in some criminal activity since she seems to have been barred from a supermarket and wears an ankle clamp. We gather too that the four of them are regularly on the move and not for the first time Jule has failed to pay her rent. As we seek to deduce her state of mind, we may well see her as somebody who, genuinely caring for her children, can only survive by living out the fantasy that she is a capable, managing mother. That her attitude is often rebellious may be a trait that her children find attractive but she brings disruption in her wake and what she says cannot be trusted. She claims to have been an accountant and to have some work, but how true is that? It is all too characteristic that when she takes the children to view a property in poor repair that is for sale she tells them that this will be their new home. She then runs away as soon as an estate agent turns up but will pursue the fiction that she has the money to buy it and will react violently later on when told that somebody else has entered into a contract to buy the property. On another occasion she steals in order to provide a gift for her youngest, Sami, to take to a party and pretends that like her neighbours she is planning a weekend trip to the sea. The realism of this film is combined with a music score by Mirjam Skal which has a modernist tone and which suggests something of the pressure building up in Jule's head.
Having known no other lifestyle, the children accept her ways and at least they can recognise her love for them. But what we see indicates that she is incapable of being a fit mother. The social issues involved in her life are such as could make Jule the kind of character who features in many a Ken Loach film. However, presenting things from the viewpoint of her young children means that, while we are more readily engaged with the story, we never get a full picture of Jule's background and of her mental capacity because that is beyond their knowledge and understanding. Thanks to Ophélia Kolb’s compelling characterisation we always believe in Jude but to understand her properly we need to know far more detail than the film ever provides. If we had the full information, we might even be able to see her as being courageous in adverse circumstances which could well be Jasmin Gordon's view of her. As it is, however, she emerges us a pitiable figure certainly but nevertheless as a mother who has reached the stage when unintentionally she has become a danger to her children. The Courageous has a cast which deserve all the praise going and Jasmin Gordon's commitment to it is total yet I felt that her portrayal of Jule was intended to produce a response very different from the one which her film produced in me.
Original title: Les courageux.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Ophélia Kolb, Jasmine Kalisz Saurer, Paul Besnier, Arthur Devaux, Sabine Timoteo, Michel Voïta, Roger Bonjour, Claudia Grob, Alexandra Karamisaris, Nabil Rafi.
Dir Jasmin Gordon, Pro Brigitte Hofer and Cornelia Seitler, Screenplay Julien Bouissoux and Jasmin Gordon, Ph Andi Widmer, Pro Des Rekha Musale and Ivan Niclass, Ed Jan Mühlethaler, Music Mirjam Skal, Costumes Linda Harper.
Maximage-MetFilm Distribution.
83 mins. Switzerland. 2024. UK Rel: 5 September 2025. Cert. 12A.
