Peaceful Life

• 

• 2016

• France

• 5 mins

• NYC Premiere

• Music Video Competition

Directed By	Sébastien Bellaval
Produced By	Boris Antona, Damien Poirot
Starring	Jean Drolet, Gautier Fayolle

A old homeless man lies in a street, ignored by the passing crowd. He is robbed of one of his only possessions: a football. Humiliated, the old man loses his cool. He aggressively takes back his ball, spinning around as if he was in a boxing ring. The passers-by don’t believe what they are seeing – his football juggling skills are exceptional. The tramp proves to be a freestyler that shows off ever more amazing and daring tricks.

About the Director

Born in France, Sébastien Bellaval was first meant to become a fireman but he quickly gave up his previous job to start a career as a filmmaking in the french cinema industry. Settled in Paris, he wrote a music video screenplay for a French band which won the Best Script of the Week prize by Celtx. He also directed four short films and several music videos for Guts. His last one ‘Peaceful Life’ is currently running in many festivals and recently won eight awards as Best Music Video.

Reviews

‘Peaceful Life’ should be treated in two distinctive ways. Firstly, we will comment upon the music video and then we will focus on the short movie that is beyond the music.  For a music video, ‘Peaceful Life’ is very complex, having a good narrative, a story and a back-story that are co-dependent and work together in the best interest of the final musical form. The song, played by Guts is very catchy, with a well dosed chorus, enough to make you dance.  The editing of the video is good, with neat cinematography, very good lightning and also, a very good cast. The main characters are not only telling a story, but living it with open hearts.  Now, looking at ‘Peaceful Life’ as a short fiction film, we get the story of an old man, living in the middle of the place that never sleeps. The ongoing parties and the loud background made him immune to the surrounding world. In the eyes of the young ones, he is just an intruder in their party space. He never looked like getting the flow of this generation, but he knows how to get in their hearts. When he started juggling with the football, all the people around him went crazy. Now, he is not just a homeless guy invading the party-space, but he is one of them.  The main idea of this whole short, even if it will sound a bit cliche, is: “don’t judge a book by its cover”. It may not sound original (we all saw millions of interpretations of this quote), but the final result is pretty amazing.  All in all, Bellaval’s short/music video is a good movie experience and a good dance floor breaker. If you don’t believe us, press play and try not to dance. — PROMO REVIEW BY FEEL THE REEL FILM FESTIVAL