While Marion Cotillard is currently off filming Robert Zemeckis‘ WWII romantic thriller with Brad Pitt, it won’t be the only drama from the time period she’ll appear in this year. She’s also leading the French-language drama From the Land of the Moon (Mal de pierres), which we wouldn’t be surprised to see appear as part of the Cannes line-up as the first image has arrived today.
Directed and co-adapted by Nicole Garcia, the story comes from Milena Agus‘ novel, which follows a Cotillard’s character navigating a post-World War II Europe, faced with potential marriage to a man she doesn’t love (Àlex Brendemühl) and a charming war veteran (Louis Garrel). Coming from Variety, who report that Sundance Selects has picked up the film for a U.S. release, one can see the image below, along with an Amazon synopsis:
In her debut novel, Agus follows the fortunes of a Sardinian woman whose adventures begin as WWII comes to an end; the unnamed narrator is her granddaughter who is about to be married. The woman had suitors, but with no firm proposals by 30, she was forced into a marriage to a widower whose experiences in the brothel dictate their life in the bedroom. Several miscarriages and kidney stones later, she is sent to thermal baths on the mainland for a cure, where she takes as her lover a war veteran whose kindness is in stark contrast to her husband’s indifference. The veteran has a wife and daughter in Milan and she returns home to give birth to a son. Years later, she searches for her lost love, wandering the streets of Milan. The narrator constantly amends the tale, demonstrating the uncertainty of stories passed down. Agus’s descriptions of the everyday are as beautiful and haunting as her portrayal of life’s most dramatic episodes. Add an unexpected ending and the result is a graceful, powerful book.
From the Land of the Moon opens in France on October 19th.