P’tit Quinquin – A TV Comedy by Bruno Dumont

Bruno Dumont has always been one of the main representatives of the extreme wave of Cinéma du Corps and he is rather known for the provocative themes that he is dealing with. A couple months ago and right after the release of his last film Camile Claudet 1915, he decided to do something even more extreme as he announced that he is directing a TV miniseries for the Franco-German network arte. What is even stranger in this decision is the fact that the series which is entitled P’tit Quinquin will be an extravagant police burlesque comedy that involves murders and mad cows!

The Fleming helmer returns once again to his favorite homeland of Northern France, where he also shot La Vie de Jésus (1997), L’Humanité (1999) and Flandres (2006) and he transfers his series in the coastal area around Calais. The title of the series P’tit Quinquin, which means little child, is also the title of a famous lullaby and marching song which was written in the Piccard language and it is quite known in that area. Of course there is no coincidence for the selection of that title since according to Dumont, P’tit Quinquin will be a series that is dealing with “A criminal investigation with many twists and with mysterious crimes, committed on the Côte d’Opale. A team of policemen will conduct the investigation. The children will also play important roles.” The protagonists are Alane Delhaye, Lucy Caron, Bernard Pruvost and Philippe Jore.

Despite the fact that this will be a comedy and by judging just by the trailer and the first stills that we have in hand, there is a clear connection with what Dumont has been doing all these years. Probably Camile Claudet 1915 seemed quite different from his previous work but now Dumont tries to capture the feeling of his first films and hopefully he will deconstruct his past with something completely new and bizarrely provocative at the same time. The four-part miniseries will premiere during the Directors’ Fortnight section of 2014 Cannes Film festival and the television premiere will be held on September 2014.