« L’Âge d’or », Béranger Thouin's first feature film, stands out for its innovative approach to historical cinema. Rather than recounting a period, the film focuses on the character of Jeanne Lavaur, a heroine whose personal journey intersects with the national destiny. Its originality lies in the meticulous work with archival material, a successful, creative, and stimulating artistic experience.
With six short films to his name and training at the prestigious Louis Lumière school, Béranger Thouin drew from the Gaumont-Pathé archives for his fresco. Newsreel footage shot in 35mm, showing factories, tanks, soldiers, working women, and occupied countryside, is interwoven with fiction. This blend of History and history, once assimilated, reveals the fluidity of the narrative. 'A titanic undertaking,' confides the director, who sees archives as a way to 'compose with reality and time'.
The artist also shot his own scenes, adopting the operational methods of past cinematographers, favoring a tripod for camera movements, shooting outdoors, and using limited lighting. These new images were then colorized to ensure aesthetic consistency with the period archives. The cast, chosen for their sensitivity, includes Souheila Yacoub as Jeanne, whose face is reminiscent of a young Béatrice Dalle, and Neils Schneider, who brings his timeless nobility to the film's black and white.
« L’Âge d’or » prompts reflection on our relationship with History and the moving image. It questions the persistence of fictional scenes intertwined with reality and denounces the resurgence of authoritarian regimes in Europe. Béranger Thouin's work promises an interesting analysis of the impact of this invented history on our collective memories.
The film, supported by the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region, the Department of Lot-et-Garonne, and the Department of Charente, in partnership with the CNC and accompanied by ALCA, will be released in theaters on November 11, 2027. It is a France-Italy co-production from 2026, with a runtime of 116 minutes.
