The darkness within has come out to play.
During her morning run, Johanna is assaulted by a stranger who drills a hole in her skull. When he receives a call saying that her daughter has been murdered, Morten cannot believe it: Johanna has just come back home, dazed, a black liquid flowing from her mouth. Distraught by her daughter’s slow physical decline, Morten will investigate a mysterious killer turning his victims into zombies.
« DARK SOULS is a film in which death replaces life. Usually in a film, death only lasts a split second, that’s why we wanted to show it more than that and use that concept to promote our ecological message. Contaminated blood darkens, all human excretions turn into oil and decay Johanna’s body from the inside, making her more and more look like a zombie. But our original idea was not to make another zombie film - even if we are fond of Georges Romero’s work - but to deal with the concepts of ‘contamination’ and ‘the living dead’ from a political and economic viewpoint. Indeed, this contamination is to be seen as a metaphor for our post-industrialized, globalized and interconnected world. There is an indisputable analogy between the flow of black liquid taking control of Johanna’s body - and other victims - and the oil flow which supplies our economy, thus denouncing the merciless greed of some oil companies always looking to make more profits while neglecting their devastating impact on the environment and our health. DARK SOULS must ring like a warning bell for future generations…and the fact that it was shot in Norway is far from trivial! »
Written, directed and edited by Mathieu Péteul - with Morten Rudå, Kyrre Haugen Sydness, Ida Elise Broch - original score by Wojciech Golczewski
Release date : 2011 – running time : 95 min
***
Les ténèbres sont là... Et elles veulent jouer !
S’adonnant à son jogging matinal, Johanna est agressée par un inconnu qui lui fore le crâne à l’aide d’une perceuse. Lorsqu’on lui téléphone pour lui apprendre le meurtre de sa fille, Morten ne peut y croire : Johanna vient de rentrer, hagarde, un fluide noir s’écoulant de sa bouche. Accablé par la lente dégradation physique de sa fille, Morten va enquêter sur un mystérieux tueur transformant les gens en zombies.
« DARK SOULS est un film où la mort remplace la vie. Généralement au cinéma, la mort ne dure qu’une fraction de seconde, c’est pourquoi nous voulions la montrer plus longtemps et nous servir de ce concept pour appuyer notre propos écologique. Le sang contaminé devient noir, toutes déjections humaines deviennent pétrole et fait pourrir de l’intérieur le corps de Johanna ce qui la fait ressembler de plus en plus à un zombie. Or notre idée de base n’était pas de faire un film de zombie de plus - même si nous adorons le travail de Georges Romero – mais de traiter la figure de la « contamination » et du « mort-vivant » d’un point de vue politique et économique.
En effet, cette contamination doit être vue comme une métaphore de notre monde post-industrialisé, mondialisée et interconnectée. Il y a une analogie certaine entre le flux de liquide noir qui prend le contrôle du corps de Johanna - et des autres victimes - avec le flux de pétrole qui irrigue notre économie, dénonçant ainsi la cupidité impitoyable de certaines compagnies pétrolières, qui recherchent toujours plus de profits, tout en négligeant leur impact dévastateur sur l’environnement et notre santé.
DARK SOULS doit sonner comme un avertissement pour les générations futures... et le fait de l’avoir tourné en Norvège est loin d’être anodin ! »
Produit, écrit et réalisé par Mathieu Péteul - avec Morten Rudå, Kyrre Haugen Sydness, Ida Elise Broch - musique originale de Wojciech Golczewski
Date de sortie : 2010 - durée : 95 min
Festival selection :
EUROPE
- 32. FantaFestival, Roma, Italie, June 30, 2012
- Weekend of Fear, WOF, Erlangen, Germany, May 18, 2012
- Festival International du Film d’Environnement, FIFE, Paris, Apocalypse night, February 11, 2012
- Tohorror Film Fest, Torino, Italia, November 8-12, 2011
- Sitges, 44th Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, Spain, October 6-16, 2011......Official Selection, Melies Competition and Midnight X_trem section
- BUT, B movie Underground & Trash Film Festival, Breda, Nederland, Sept 7-11 2011
- Grossmann, 7th Fantastic Film and Wine, Ljutomer, Slovenia, July 25-30, 2011
- Cannes International Film Festival, Marché du film, France, May 11-20, 2011
- Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival, Estonia, April 29 to May 01 2011
- Inferno Metal Festival Norway, at Oslo Cinematheque, April 19-24 2011
- Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, Belgium, April 7-19 2011......Official Selection, Melies Competition
- Screamin’ Athens Horror Film Festival, Greece, March 18-19 2011
- Oslo Fright Fest, Norway, Oct 19-23 2010
- Bram Stoker International Film Festival, UK, Oct 14-17 2010
- Norrköping Film Festival Flimmer, Sweden, Oct 1-10 2010
- Cambridge Film Festival, UK, 16-26 Sept 2010
- IFFI, Clonmer Tipperary, Ireland, Sept 4-11, 2010
- Strasbourg International Film Festival, France, Aug 20-29, 2010
- Swansea Bay Film Festival, United Kingdom - May 8-16, 2010............................................Winner Best Horror Film
NORTH AMERICA
- Mineapolis Underground Film Festival, Minnesota, USA, December 2-4, 2011
- Pittsburgh Horror Film Festival, Pennsylvania, USA, June 3-5th 2011
- Nevermore Film Fest, North Carolina, USA, Feb 18-20, 2011
- Vampire Film Festival, New Orleans, USA, Oct 21-31, 2010........................Winner Outstanding Mythic Horror Film
- RI International Horror Film Festival, Rhode Island, Oct 21-24, 2010...................................Winner Best Feature Film
- Spooky Movie Film Festival, Washington DC, USA, Oct 21-25, 2010
- Thriller! Chiller! Film Festival, Michigan, USA, Oct 22-24, 2010
- Eerie Horror Fest, Pennsylvania, USA, Oct 7-10, 2010
- Kansas International Film Festival, USA, Oct 1-7, 2010
- Edmonton International Film Festival, Canada, Sept 24 to Oct 02, 2010
- Arizona Underground Film Festival, Tucson, USA, Sept 18-25, 2010
- Maelstrom International Fantastic Film Festival, Seattle, USA, Sept. 17-19, 2010
- Oklahoma Horror Film Festival, Tulsa, USA , Sept 3-5, 2010
- Atlanta Horror Film Festival, Georgia, USA, Aug 13-15, 2010
- Manhattan Film Festival, Broadway, N.Y, USA, July 21-25, 2010....................Winner Best Horror Audience Award
- SouthSide Film Festival, Pennsylvania, USA - June 15-19, 2010
- Artsfest Film Festival, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA - May 28-31, 2010
SOUTH AMERICA
- Cine Fantasy Festival Fantastico, São Paulo, Brazil, Aug 31 to Sept 12, 2010.......................Winner Best Direction
- SP Terror Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantastico, São Paulo, Brazil, July 1-8 2010..........Winner Jury’s Prize
OCEANIA
- MUFF, Melbourne Undergroud Film Festival, Aug 20-28, 2010....................Winner Best Male Actor Morten Rudå
ASIA
- iNAFF, Indonesia International Fantastic Film Festival, Jakarta, Nov, 11-20, Bandung, Nov 25-27, 2011
- Cambofest 4.0, Cambodia, 1-9 march 2011....................................Winner Best Feature Fiction (Golden Buffalo)
- Bangkok Indiefest, Thailand, Aug 6-11, 2010
AFRICA
- FFSA, Dargle Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa, Nov 1-5, 2010