Enzo

Having premiered in the Quinzaine des Cinéastes section at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, "Enzo" is a film made by the collaboration between two pivotal figures of contemporary French cinema: Laurent Cantet and Robin Campillo. Cantet, the original screenwriter, initially planning to direct the film, passed away in April 2024, leaving the project unfinished. Campillo stepped in after Cantet’s death, carrying the project forward, adding his personal touch to the movie.

The film tells the story of Enzo, a sixteen-year-old boy from a bourgeois family in southern France who decides to drop out of school and work as a labourer on a construction site near his home. This decision brings him face to face with a world completely different from his own, mixing his life, among others, with that of Vlad, played by Maksym Slivinskyi, a Ukrainian construction worker who has taken refuge in France because of the war in Eastern Europe.

Eloy Pohu, in the role of Enzo, delivers a measured performance, capturing the emotional side of the character with authenticity. On the other hand, Slivinskyi gives his character a strong emotional depth, portraying the strength and trauma of someone who has experienced war and been separated from their family home.

Campillo’s direction is delicate, being able to balance Cantet’s original vision with his directorial idea. The film’s cinematography uses contrasting colours to make a visual distinction between the two worlds Enzo inhabits: warm and bright tones for his family life, and colder ones for the construction site scenes, highlighting the duality of the journey Enzo has to undertake both emotionally and physically.

Pierfrancesco Favino portrays Enzo’s father, a caring yet authoritarian figure, while Élodie Bouchez takes on the role of his understanding mother. Their performances surely add depth to Enzo’s family context, underlining the generational tensions within the family and the social expectations placed on the young boy, as well as two contrasting approaches to the way a young person should be educated.

An aspect of the film which deserves to be highlighted is the use of sound: the noises of the construction site and the prolonged shared silences between Enzo and Vlad create an immersive atmosphere for the viewer, while the classical music Enzo listens to, especially while being alone, helps to designate his inner emotional landscape and the complexity of his thoughts.

Ultimately, Enzo is not only the story of a boy searching for his place in the world, but also a reflection on contemporary themes such as social inequality, identity, the delicate phase of adolescence, and the possibility of productive encounters between people from completely different backgrounds and social statuses. At times tender, the film explores the adolescence phase with a refreshing and sincere style.

By Paolo Alessi