Bruno Dumont takes his mixture of realism and surrealism into science fiction with The Empire. The result is a space opera that is both absurd and interested in larger questions about power, destiny and human nature.
A small village on northern France's Côte d'Opale becomes the stage for an intergalactic conflict. A newborn child has a crucial role in the struggle between two alien factions, the Zeros and the Ones. Fabrice Luchini's Beelzebub leads the darker imperial forces, while Camille Cottin plays the Queen. Two inept police officers observe a conflict that develops into a mixture of burlesque comedy and apocalyptic spectacle.
The village becomes a miniature world in which the supernatural and the ordinary cannot be separated. Dumont uses the opposition of good and evil to raise philosophical questions rather than treating it only as the excuse for another cosmic battle.
The performances are impressive. Luchini is eccentric and almost operatic; Cottin gives the Queen a dignified severity. Nonprofessional actor Brandon Vlieghe surprises as Jony, moving between human weakness and heroic destiny. His chemistry with Anamaria Vartolomei's Jane gives their relationship emotional weight.
Dumont combines minimalist imagery with surreal elements. David Chambille's camera captures the wide, sparse northern landscape and contrasts it with spectacular, sometimes grotesque alien technology. Light and color reinforce the factions' differences.
The Empire is a bold and frequently absurd interpretation of science fiction. It will divide audiences, but admirers of Dumont's work will find a fascinating mixture of myth, comedy and philosophical reflection. This is an unusual film with ideas that continue to resonate after its strange universe has closed.