Making its world premiere out at Cannes this week, Blood Ties sees acclaimed French director Guillaume Canet making his English language debut, bringing together one of the best casts of the year for the upcoming thriller.
Led by Clive Owen and Billy Crudup as two brothers in 1970s New York, the film has screened Out of Competition at Cannes, and now Mars, its French distributor, have debuted the first red-band international teaser trailer and a very cool, retro-looking poster.
New York, 1974. Fifty year-old Chris has just been released on good behavior after several years in prison following a gangland murder. Waiting for him reluctantly outside the prison gates is his younger brother, Frank, a cop with a bright future. Chris and Frank have always been different, and their father, Leon, who’d raised them alone, seems strangely to prefer Chris – this, despite all his troubles.
Yet blood ties are the ones that bind. Frank, hoping that his brother has changed, is willing to give him a chance; he shares his home, finds him a job, and helps him reconnect with his children and his ex-wife, Monica. But Chris’ past quickly catches up to him, and his descent back into a life of crime becomes inevitable. For Frank, this descent proves to be the last in a long line of betrayals, and after his brother’s latest transgressions, he banishes him from his life.
But it’s already too late; the brothers’ destiny will keep bounded, forever…
Owen and Crudup are joined by a truly stellar cast, starring alongside Marion Cotillard, Mila Kunis, Zoe Saldana, Matthias Schoenaerts, Noah Emmerich, Lili Taylor, and James Caan.
Canet is directing from a script he co-wrote with James Gray (who is also at Cannes with his latest feature, The Immigrant). The film is a remake of Jacques Maillot’s 2008 French thriller, Les liens du sang, which is itself an adaptation of the original novel by Bruno and Michel Papet.
Blood Ties is due to be released in France on October 30th. No word yet on a firm UK or US release date, but we’re hoping that that will soon change, because this is definitely a film to look forward to. Here’s the first teaser trailer to prove it (and a quick reminder that this is red-band in nature, so not suitable for work). Enjoy.
[yframe url=’www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrnvwXy64VM’]
