Caroline Nogues- Larbere, France’s only female bull-jumper.
“Marion” is a story about the only female bull-jumper in France, Caroline Nogues-Larbere. Who knew that France had a sport called “La Course Landaise” which looks a lot like a bullfight, except that the bullfighters don’t kill the bull but simply jump out of the way of the charging animal?
DIRECTORS
Joe Weiland and Finn Constantine wrote and directed the story of Caroline, here called Marion. Joe Weiland was BAFTA nominated for his first short, “Gorka” and has won the Young Director Awards at Cannes. Constantine is affiliated with the art magazine “Plaster” but is moving into film. The short was executive produced by Sienna Miller and Cate Blanchett.
CAST
Team member who assists Marion in donning her suit of lights.
The attractive Marion is shown dressing for facing down the bull, and is assisted by a male bull-jumper. When her husband shows up with their daughter, she is forced to park the young girl in the locker room with directions not to leave (which, of course, the daughter does.) There is some harrowing footage of Marion being dragged by a bull. The refrain “Protect her; watch over her” echoes throughout the intense face-off with the charging animal.
We also see the other members of Team Nogues in the locker room: Matthew Nogues, Nicolas Vergonzeanne, Romain Beyris, Kevin Ribeiro, Louis Ansolabehere, Gilles Beguery and Frederic Vergonzeanne.
CONCLUSION
The only female bull-jumper in France had never acted before, but she was a strikingly beautiful and courageous athlete facing down an animal easily 5 times her size. I was apprehensive about her wandering daughter and what she might see of her mother in the arena, but to detail that scene would be telling.
It was interesting to learn of this little-known French version of bullfighting and I wondered how Sienna Miller and Cate Blanchett got involved with the production.
What are your thoughts?