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REVIEW: The Workshop (L'atelier) writes itself so intriguingly in this French-themed literary thriller worth its contempt in heated words

Frank Ochieng
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REVIEW: The Workshop (L'atelier) writes itself so intriguingly in this French-themed literary thriller worth its contempt in heated words

In The Workshop (a.k.a. L'atelier), French filmmaker Laurent Cantet tackles another intriguing profile into the caustic realm of social issue discourse that paves the way for an unsettling scope of second-guessing murderous tendencies. As the film's writer-director, Cantet explores the depth of his startling material's penchant for curiosity violence and alienation in the form of a writing seminar populated by local diverse youths learning how to approach the construction of a literary thriller.

Indeed, The Workshop is undeniably probing in its twitchy skin as Cantet finds a definitive way to shape his edgy, provocative narrative emboldened by the discomfort of sinister-minded exploration. Compelling and thought-provoking, Cantet's cynical vehicle pertaining to the remedial adolescent minds of the sensationalistic written word can also be analogous to the contemporary strife-ridden, political dissension and decadence in France's national unrest.  

Cantet, the defiant auteur known for heavy-handed social-minded dramas such as Human Resources and Time Out, delivers The Workshop in a traditional, gritty manner that suggests Cantet's other calculating classroom clashing in 2008's The Class where young critical mindsets from different walks of life are confronted by differences in ethnicity, ideologies, philosophies, and national turmoil.

However, a decade later Cantet elevates the psychological high stakes for something more insidious in a socio-political suspense yarn The Workshop notoriously set against a glaring backdrop of France's recent brush with random bombings and other terrorist tactics--something that must be numbing to the nerves of the impressionable young people saddled in the country's hovering mayhem of destruction. The film's obsession with literary expression in how the group of high school students perceives their turbulent surroundings earmarked for topical writing definitely hits close to home.

Famed novelist Olivia Dejazet (Marina Fois) is tasked with overseeing a summertime writing class for a band of multicultural teens in an effort to sharpen their literary skills--in essence, develop the seeds for them to invent a murder thriller by adding some contributing input through tossed around random ideas, creative anecdotes, etc. The discussion feels lively and Olivia (although her pupils find her somewhat pretentious and snooty behind her back) elicits some honest feedback from the kids. However, one student in particular--Antoine (Matthieu Lucci)--is the lone wolf that chooses to antagonize and become the contrarian of his fellow classmates. Antoine is a handful for Oliva but she views him as oddly challenging despite his disruptive nature. 

The hostile Antoine questions his teacher Olivia's professional perspective about her homicidal characterizations in her sensationalistic writings. Antoine feels that his so-called celebrated writing instructor does not have a genuine clue as to how her calculating creations truly operate in deviousness and deception. Hence, Olivia is accused of not being the real deal in terms of her close intimacy with the dastardly killers she so shrewdly fictionalizes as larger than life. Antoine rationalizes that Olivia's genuine investment in the caustic characters she fleshes out in her heralded written work cannot be that authentic is if she has not experienced the deviants' motivations she proclaims so vividly in print. Furthermore, Antoine's bothersome take on how his harsh visions for an ultimate literary thriller could be helped along by vile inclusions of racist overtones and a radical overdose of unrealistic bloodshed and gore really cause alarm among his exasperated peers. Most likely this lanky brooding badass would prefer his pen's ink to be replaced by pig's blood instead when jotting down his deranged stories on paper.     

Clearly, Antoine does not mind posing as the poisonous pariah of the writing seminar. He shows continuous contempt for Olivia's authority and expertise in the field of the gory genre she has banked her considerable reputation in the cherished literary circles. Plus, Antoine feels like an immediate outsider to the close-knit group of juvenile writers holed up in the town's summer resort-based classroom. In his mind, novelist Olivia may not have the truthful stones to back up her vicious visions of corrosive creativity. But the sinister Antoine will let one know in a minute how he rolls with his brand of authenticity for colorful chaos. After all, he is a violent-loving video game aficionado with an affinity for embracing guns and craving militaristic jubilation. Antoine is intolerant and wears his Neanderthal leanings close to the vest.  

The dramatic give-and-take in The Workshop works effectively because Cantet draws so heavily on the fluctuating conflict at hand that mirrors the unpredictability of France's countrywide discord. While the rainbow coalition of classmates' differences of opinion reach a boiling point in political banter and the realization of tension-filled destruction through heated debate it is actually the one-on-one teacher/student confrontation between Fois's mentoring Olivia and Lucci's angst-ridden Antoine that brings to the forefront the unsettling friction of worried bystanders theorizing on the fictional devastation in literary terms when the madness exists in their real-life consciousness.

Specifically, Lucci's loose cannon convincingly screams volumes of a complex, youthful right-winger betrayed by societal biases that do not cater to his virulent views. As Olivia, Fois presents an interesting dilemma for her alter ego--does the sullen Antoine make a cogent point about her preachy-minded, intellectual approach to the gruesome literature she professes is her liberal take of hardened artistic merit without really tapping into the perverse pulse through legitimate experiences?  

Overall, The Workshop is a powerful and surging literary thriller with its read-by-the-moment suspense that soundly percolates in these given uncertain times.

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