The Last Queen

This lavish and unpredictable historical epic from Rochette (Snowpiercer) delves into the disintegrating relationship between humanity and nature. Édouard Roux, the untamable son of a woman who practices pagan rituals and is rumored to be a witch, grows up in rural France at the turn of the 20th century and witnesses the killing of what is believed to be the last bear in the region. Édouard’s family has a long connection to bears and the wilderness they represent, as revealed through flashbacks following a prehistoric bear cult that continues in secret through the Middle Ages. As he grows up, Édouard maintains the ancient belief that “so long as bears rule the mountains, the sun will rise in the morning.” Disfigured in WWI, he seeks a new face from Jeanne Sauvage, an artist who makes lifelike masks. (When Édouard tells her he’s ashamed to show his face, she replies, “The society that did this to you should be ashamed.”) The two fall in love and retreat into the forest, where Jeanne creates wildlife sculptures, including of a bear, that win plaudits from urban tastemakers like Picasso and Cocteau. Unfortunately, the couple’s wilderness idyll can’t survive against the forces of modernity. Rochette’s scratchy, deeply shadowed art has the organic look of woodcuts, and he draws marvelous wild animals and sweeping natural vistas. Melding ancient myth and modern history, Rochette’s bold narrative entrances. (Mar.)