Distribution rights for Régis Wargnier's Seeds of Death (Pars vite et reviens tard) - a.k.a. "Have Mercy on Us All" (English working title) - are to be offered for sale by Gaumont S.A. at this year's European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin, Germany. The movie is scheduled to be screened at the CineStar 5 on Friday February 9th at 3:45 p.m., and at the CinemaxX 9 on Sunday February 11th at 1:30 p.m.. Gaumont Columbia TriStar Films released it theatrically in France on January 24th.
As was previously reported here on ScreenAnarchy, the screenplay for Seeds of Death (Pars vite et reviens tard) was written by Julien Rappeneau, Ariane Fert, Harriet Marin, Lawrence Shore, and Wargnier - with dialogue by Rappeneau and Fert - based on the eponymous (with regard to the French title) novel Have Mercy on Us All (Pars vite et reviens tard) by Fred Vargas. The movie stars José Garcia, Lucas Belvaux, Marie Gillain, Olivier Gourmet, Nicolas Cazalé, Linh Dan Pham, and Michel Serrault.
Here's a synopsis for Vargas' novel Have Mercy on Us All from the website of Publishers Weekly: "Joss Le Guern is a merchant seaman who, following the wreck of his ship and the end of his career, has strung an improvised mailbox onto a tree and taken to reading aloud local news left for him there thrice daily in the streets of Paris; he sees himself as a modern town crier. When odd, apocalyptic warnings begin coming in regularly, intrigued listener Herv Decambrais does some research and finds they match medieval texts that predicted the coming of the Black Death. Meanwhile, backward 4s begin appearing on apartment doors. At first, Chief Inspector Adamsberg (a comically forgetful, yet thoughtful and decisive character) and his deputy dismiss the markings as graffiti, but when they discover that the symbol was once used in parts of Europe to protect people against the plague and correlate with Joss's reports, the detective work intensifies - though not fast enough...."
Those who are interested in Seeds of Death may also wish to read the ScreenAnarchy articles on Marc Caro's Dante 01 - which Linh Dan Pham is also in - and Alain Corneau's The Second Wind (Le deuxième souffle).
VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED
Seeds of Death trailer #2 (downloadable 12 MB WMV file)
Seeds of Death trailer #2 (downloadable 15.9 MB MOV file)
Seeds of Death trailer #1 (downloadable 11.9 MB WMV file)
Seeds of Death trailer #1 (downloadable 18.9 MB MOV file)
Seeds of Death official website