A small village of Northern France is the battleground of undercover extraterrestrial knights.A small village of Northern France is the battleground of undercover extraterrestrial knights.A small village of Northern France is the battleground of undercover extraterrestrial knights.
- Awards
- 1 win & 3 nominations
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- Writer
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAdèle Haenel was originally set to star, but dropped out following disagreements with Bruno Dumont over the screenplay. "At first, I thought it looked like a lot of fun: a kind of Luke Skywalker in space. The problem is that behind this funny facade, it was a dark, sexist and racist world that was defended. The script was full of jokes about cancel culture and sexual violence. I tried to discuss it with Dumont, because I thought a dialogue was possible. I wanted to believe for the umpteenth time that it was not intentional. But it's intentional. This disregard is deliberate. Just as they make fun of the victims, of people in a situation of weakness. The intention was to make a sci-fi film with an all-white cast - and therefore a racist narrative. I didn't want to support this." She later retired from the French film industry in 2023.
Featured review
I was worried I wouldn't enjoy L'Empire - I had tried to avoid trailers and reviews, but finally gave in a read one which said at one screening many people had left halfway through the film. The images looked grotesque, but I still wanted to give it a go as I really admire Dumont's film l'Humanité and find his mix of professional and non-professional actors sensitive and clever, never humiliating. The film kept me entertained throughout. Dumont's touching look at small french coastal towns stem from his personal experience and history, which makes it all the more authentic. One could say the film is a pastiche of various sci-fi blockbusters (although I must say its way more like Star Wars than Dune) but in truth it felt like it must have been inspired by childhood games in a mostly poor and neglected area of rural northern France that features the entire village as enthusiastic players. On top of that great graphics and effects, and hilarious UFOs made for an amusing, unusual and ulitamtely moving film. I'm pleased I got a chance to see it at the Berlinale - and in my opinion it's a well-deserving winner of a silver bear!
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
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- Also known as
- L'Empire
- Filming locations
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- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- €7,990,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $8,134
- Runtime1 hour 50 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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