30/07/2024 - Action, intergenerational conflict and inner torment are at the heart of this new opus adapted from the adventures of Largo Winch and entrusted to Belgian director Olivier Masset-Depasse

After making his name in the field of arthouse cinema as an author who reinvents himself and explores different genres (Cages [+see also:
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interview: Olivier Masset-Depasse
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interview: Olivier Masset-Depasse
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interview: Olivier Masset-Depasse
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Largo (once again played by Tomer Sisley) is still a multi-billionaire heir and business executive, but now he’s also a father, having once been so solitary and unattached. Having a teenage son in 2020, however, means being faced with the questions posed by this generation, who hold their parents and grandparents responsible for the current climate crisis. Because, in the eyes of the world and of his son in particular, regardless of what he thinks or says, Largo represents everything that’s awful about capitalism. And developing the first electric passenger plane whilst simultaneously managing his conglomerate which is unashamedly plundering the planet’s resources does little to alleviate his conscience or the debt he’s certain to owe to future generations. It’s with this confrontation that the film begins, between an out-of-his-depth father and a son who is trying to kill his father symbolically, but who ultimately gets himself kidnapped far too quickly, rocketing Largo into a relentless hunt for his son. What follows is the usual necessary assortment of chase scenes, traitors and red herrings, coupled with an indestructible baddie (James Franco, who seems in his element playing bad guys) who re-awakens our hero’s worst nightmares, as if an evil twin offering up a troubling reflection of Largo’s psyche and, the cherry on the cake, a cunning and insolent accomplice (the energetic acting revelation Elise Tilloloy) who acts as his missing son’s benevolent twin.

In taking up the reins to this French-language action franchise, Masset-Depasse was faced with two sizeable challenges: firstly, the need to modernise a character who was conceived of at the end of the ‘70s, the golden boy par excellence who represented values no longer in step with the current world, and secondly, to inject a healthy supply of credible action scenes to entertain the audience, whilst also offering up one or two reflections in tune with the times. The filmmaker - who also wrote the screenplay in league with Giordano Gederlini (Les Misérables [+see also:
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The Price of Money: A Largo Winch Adventure is produced by Pan Cinéma (France) and Versus Production (Belgium) in league with TF1, RTBF, Be TV and Proximus.

(Translated from French)