Press
Sympathy for the Devil is selected as one of 2019 best film by 7 editors.
Le Point
by Bernard-Henry Lévy
« The film achieves a prodigious double symmetry : capturing Marchand alive and revealing Sarajevo dead - on the one hand, the resuscitated legend of this tragic Martin Eden figure, war reporter Paul Marchand, and on the other hand, the reconstituted city under its shroud of bombs... Beyond Marchand, this film conveys a lucid but emotional tribute to some twenty adventurers, opinionated members of the international press who discovered, at the same time, that Sarajevo had once again become the world capital of pain. »
Télérama
by Guillemette Odicino
« A shocking story adapted from the book of this French war reporter. The result is exceptional: a raw dive into the bowels of a conflict, but also the feverish portrait of a war correspondent obsessed with truth. No hagiography on the part of the director, Guillaume de Fontenay, but a sincere homage to a war to this deceitful, melancholy and disgusted news hero. Niels Schneider (Un Amour Impossible, Black Diamond) creates a hallucinating Paul Marchand. An actor's commitment to the height of this great immersive war film that cannot leave one indifferent. Breathtaking.»
Slate
by Jean-Michel Frodon
« War film, thriller, history film, Sympathy for the Devil is also a tragedy, in the sense that it is the story of a man's destiny. The film by Guillaume de Fontenay vibrates according to several rhythms at the same time, reminds us of the importance and limits of the work of journalists. evoked with a rare accuracy. Niels Schneider's remarkable interpretation as well as interpreters of the fellow photographer, Vincent Rottiers, and of the translator-fixer, Ella Rumpf, these subliminal presences make the moving power of the film. A hectic tale that questions the moral collapse of the end of the 20th century. »
FrenchMania
by Clémence Levanneur
« Guillaume de Fontenay succeeds in the impossible: precision and chaos, questioning the role of journalist in a breathless story, a great film. Never grandiloquent neither in its aesthetic choices nor in its discourse, the film manages to make the political stakes and intimate aspects of this conflict clear. This first film, by Guillaume de Fontenay, is a shock. Niels Schneider is the committed embodiment of the journalist Paul Marchand. A vibrant cinematic masterpiece of rare intelligence and permanent tension. »
Écran Large
by Christophe Foltzer
« There are films that catch our eye and there are others that take our jaws off. Sympathy for the devil, by Guillaume de Fontenay is undoubtedly one of those. A hallucinating chronicle of a city under siege and the people who try to survive it. The film does not fall into complacency or voyeurism but doesn't spare us anything either. Sympathy for the devil impresses by so much mastery. We must salute the extraordinary performance of Niels Schneider (Un Amour Impossible, Black Diamond) inhabited by the role, totally unrecognizable. Sympathy for the devil is beautiful and a very important movie.»
Oslobodjenje
by Nisad Selimović
«De Fontenay shows us the war full frontal with a handheld camera, desaturated color, all in 4:3 format that renders all the authenticity of the 90s Sarajevo siege. Niels Schneider is convincing in Paul Marchand - it is hard to believe that one can interpret a character more accurately. He was young when he covered the events, but unlike most journalists, he didn't hesitate to tell it like it was, to condemn the international community and UNPROFOR. The brutality at the heart of this war drama that Marchand tasted right into his flesh is inevitable to convey a some of the history of the siege of Sarajevo. The fact that the Sarajevo Film Festival was afraid to show such a film to the people who experienced all live and miss the opportunity to pay tribute to a man who witnessed about this painful truth to the world is pure cowardice. If the Sarajevo Film Festival had had the courage, de Fontenay would not only have received a place in the central program last year, but he would also have been awarded the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo.»
The Hollywood Reporter
by Jordan Mintzer
« Sympathy for the Devil (Sympathie pour le diable) provides a firsthand account of the siege through the eyes of a young rebel. The script is peppered with moments of camaraderie and competition among the reporters, as well as scenes of extreme tension when they head out in groups to the war zone. Guillaume de Fontenay offers up several hair-raising sequences in a movie that mostly avoids clichés about love and war along with issues that are convincingly depicted against a backdrop that’s been re-created in utter detail. De Fontenay has a long résumé making commercials and brings a considerable skill set to his compelling feature debut. »
Le Nouvel Observateur
by Xavier Leherpeur
« The nervousness of the pace, the tightened square 4:3 format and the very sharp editing work brings anxiety and tension. Remarkable.»
Le Parisien
by Renaud Baronian
« A powerful film, hyper-realistic, indispensable»
Ouest France
by Philippe Lemoine
« Powerful with inhabited actors»
Le Figaro
by Renaud Girard
« He is the most romantic and romanesque being I have ever known. Sympathy for the devil brings him back to life with incredible strength. For its rhythm, for its beauty, for its actors' performances, this film will remain a reference on the profession of war correspondent.»
L’Express
by Christophe Carrière
« Niels Schneider [...] finds the right measure. At the image of the film, impressive in its authenticity, of which we go out shaken.»
Le Figaro
by Etienne Sorin
« Sympathy for the Devil forcefully retraces the journey of Paul Marchand, a journalist figure, covering the siege of Sarajevo in 1992.»
Télérama
by Jérémy Couston
« Incandescent chronicle of the siege of Sarajevo seen through the eyes of war reporter Paul Merchant (1961-2009).»
Le Dauphiné Libéré
by Jean Serroy
« Paul Marchand, the cigar journalist, with a strong and arrogant personality, is Niels Schneider, unrecognizable. Breathtaking.»
Paris Match
by Caroline Mangez
« The striking "Sympathy for the Devil" is a portrait of journalist Paul Marchand. during the siege of Sarajevo.»
Culturebox – France Télévisions
by Jacky Bornet
« One would think that director Guillaume de Fontenay was in the conflict alongside Paul Marchand, as if he filmed it in 1992.»
20 Minutes
by Caroline Vié
« This portrait of a complex man fascinates by revealing a passionating profession.»
Les Fiches du Cinéma
by Marguerite Debiesse
« Inspired from the story of war correspondent Paul Marchand, this film brings with great accuracy and empathy of the terrible living conditions of the inhabitants and the difficulties of journalists during the siege of Sarajevo. »
Le Devoir
by André Lavoie
« Marchand will remain a mystery throughout this feverish, energetic and crepuscular adaptation, never displaying its origins or its primary motivations on a professional level, always in action. This means camera is constantly following him, often seen from the back or from the side, brings an astonishing work of composition by Niels Schneider. »
La Presse
by Marc-André Lussier
« When Brothers in Arms, the poignant song by Dire Straits, rise during the end credits, we instinctively have the impression that a steamroller has run over us but one also understands very quickly how much the experience that we just went through is essential. Because it connects us directly to the reality that too many still live stuck in conflicts as horrible as they are absurd. It also connects us to those who have the mandate to inform us. Courageously.»
Le Journal de Montréal
by Maxime Demers
« Sympathy for the Devil is indeed both moving and necessary. Guillaume de Fontenay signs with this shock film based on the story of war reporter Paul Marchand. The result is a powerful and relevant film that once again recalls the importance of the journalism.»
Radio-Canada
by Michel Coulombe
« A first and powerful film by Guillaume de Fontenay. You can't come out of it indifferent, because there is something very strong. The great strength of this film for me is the portrait of his main character, a lively flay in all its complexity. When we watch this film today, we say to ourselves "It was Bosnia in 1992, today it is Syria. Is it really different?»
àVoir-àLire.com
by Gérard Crespo
« At once sober and impactful, this first feature film is a great war movie that presents a semi-documentary approach of the Sarajevo headquarters and offers its best role to Niels Schneider.»
Art et Essai
by Rédaction
« Niels Schneider is phenomenal. One comes out of this journey to the confines of humanity and barbarism both stunned and shocked. A testimony of war of a breathtaking strength and ardor.»
Infiniti Vidades
by Marcos Vieira
« The director strikes a balance between the journalists' account of daily life and the horrors of the war they were covering.»
CINE-WOMAN
by Véronique Le Bris
« Niels Schneider proves once again that he is one of the most interesting actors of the moment. The work of Guillaume de Fontenay is fantastic.»
EL WATAN
by Ali Aït Mouhoub
« A powerful first film by Guillaume de Fontenay.»
Cineuropa
by Alfonso Rivera
« Knock-out first film by Guillaume de Fontenay. »
Le Monde
by Thomas Sotinel
« Between portrait of war reporter and reflection on the place of an observer in hell, this first feature film by Canadian director Guillaume de Fontenay seeks with stubbornness the right distance from his fascinating subject, convincing answers to legitimate questions raised by the scenario.»
Première
by Thierry Chèze
« Where Lojkine tended to scatter by multiplying the subjects, Guillaume de Fontenay goes straight to the point with a story to the bone, directing without bragging about which causes violence to arise with a sometimes unbearable brutality that befits him.»
Le Journal du Dimanche
by Antoine Malo
« Le réalisateur canadien Guillaume de Fontenay ne cache rien des ambiguïtés et des transgressions du personnage (incarné par l’époustouflant Niels Schneider), qui n’en donnent que plus de justesse à ce premier long-métrage au style organique et enfiévré. »
La Croix
by Pierre Cochez
« Ce film est un conte sur l’utilité, et l’inutilité, du métier de journaliste. Comme l’indique son titre, il est aussi une description de la sympathie que l’on peut avoir pour le « diable » : à Sarajevo, le diable est dans les bombes, les blessés et les morts. Il rend la vie exceptionnelle, excitante. »
France Bleu
by Frédéric Fleurot
« La projection en compétition, au Festival de Saint Jean de Luz, du premier film de Guillaume de Fontenay “Sympathie pour le diable” a fait l’effet d’une bombe. »