In “Le Torrent”, José Garcia sinks into lies and becomes the main suspect in the investigation into the disappearance of his wife. A feature film which is partly inspired by the Suzanne Viguier affair.
The Torrent : the infernal gear
After My Father’s Guests and We were almost friendsAnne Le Ny ventures into a much darker register with The Torrent. With this film, the director and actress stages a thriller in which a man sinks into his lies.
Played by José Garcia, Alexandre is a successful businessman. One evening, when he is delighted to have signed an important contract and to be able to spend time with his eldest daughter Lison (Capucine Valmary), he discovers that his wife Juliette (Ophélia Kolb) is cheating on him.
Following an argument, Juliette decides to leave the marital home on foot. Alexandre tries to catch up with her in the car and when he tries to reason with her, she is the victim of a fatal fall in a ravine.
Panicked on returning home, Alexandre asks Lison to cover for him. Faced with the police, he accumulates lies. Aware that something is wrong, his father-in-law Patrick (André Dussollier) begins to to doubt the innocence of his son-in-lawand tries to find out more from Lison.
The feature film therefore presents the fall of a man unable to express his emotions and eager to preserve his reputation, to the point of suggesting that he is guilty. José Garcia makes all the wrong decisions in The Torrent. André Dussollier is determined to find out the truth, or at least to find the slightest evidence that could suggest a homicide and not an accident.
A thriller inspired by the Suzanne Viguier affair
To build the plot of the film, co-written with Axelle Bachman, Anne Le Ny was inspired by the Suzanne Viguier affair. In the press kitthe director explains:
I am aware of the interest I have in Cornelian issues, but the Viguier affair particularly challenged me: the support of the children for this father accused of the disappearance of their mother nourished my reflection on the ambiguity of emotions and difficulty making choices in untenable situations.
It took me a while to write, and while developing the project, I thought a lot about finding the girl’s place. Adopting the father’s side was complicated and I took that of a girl who has no place with her father and can feel the unconscious desire to see her stepmother disappear.
On February 27, 2000, Suzanne Viguier disappears after leaving a tarot contest. Aged 39, this Toulousaine is a dancer and choreographer for a transformist cabaret. On March 1, 2000, her companion Jacques reported her disappearance and claimed not to have seen her since February 26.
“I didn’t kill her”
Suspicion falls on this law professor when investigators find traces of blood in the family home. They also get their hands on a divorce application form in Suzanne’s vehicle. Before her disappearance, she had an affair with Olivier Durandet, of which Jacques Viguier ensures that he is not aware.
On May 11, 2000, he was placed in pre-trial detention and maintained his innocence for ten years. After a second appeal trial, justice definitively acquits Jacques Viguier on March 20, 2010. His wife’s body was never found. Asked by Le Figaro in 2010 on the truth surrounding the disappearance of his wife, Jacques Viguier declared:
The more time passes, the more I doubt it, like everyone else. I only know one thing: I didn’t kill her.
A case that had already inspired the drama An intimate conviction with Marina Foïs and Olivier Gourmet, in which Laurent Lucas lends his features to the accused.
The Torrent is to be discovered in cinemas from November 30, 2022.
