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Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq
Year
2014
Language
FRENCH (ENGLISH subtitles)
Duration
1h 36m
Rating
NR
CC
Performers
Michel Houellebecq, Mathieu Nicourt, Maxime Lefrançois
Directed By
Guilaume Nicloux
Publication Information
Kino Lorber
Summary
Novelist and poet Michel Houellebecq, one of France's most famous and provocative intellectuals, briefly went missing in 2011, causing the French media to speculate wildly about a possible kidnapping. The writer refuses to talk about his mysterious disappearance to this day. In director Guillaume Nicloux's offbeat documentary-style take on the events, The Kidnapping of Michel houellebecq, Houellebecq gives a performance as himself: a disheveled misanthrope with a particular contempt for contemporary Europe and a fondness for wine and cigarettes. Captured and held for ransom, Houellebecq wins the admiration of his captors – three surprisingly friendly, considerate hoodlums. Points of view on literature, class, race, and even mixed martial arts are discussed with deadpan humor that turns a kidnapping into comedy.