''Litan'' is a 1982 French

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

co-written, produced, edited, and directed by Jean-Pierre Mocky and

Jean-Claude Romer Jean-Claude Romer (Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than ...

. It stars

Marie-José Nat Marie-José Benhalassa (22 April 1940 – 10 October 2019), known professionally as Marie-José Nat, was a French actress. Among her notable works in cinema were the sequel films '' Anatomy of a Marriage: My Days with Jean-Marc'' and '' Anatomy ...

, Jean-Pierre Mocky, Nino Ferrer, and Marisa Muxen.

Plot

A young couple passes through the village of

Litan Litan (died 900) was abbot of Tuam. Litan was the fifth known abbot of Tuam, County Galway, but nothing else appears to be known of him. He was the apparent successor of Cormac mac Ciaran but because the sabbatical succession of Tuam is f ...

as the locals hold a Festival of the Dead. As the festival progresses, strange, and eerie events occur that reveals something sinister at work. Fearing for their lives, the couple decided to flee the village before they too become overtaken by the dark implications of the celebration and become shadows of their former selves.

Cast

- Nora * Jean-Pierre Mocky - Jock * Nino Ferrer - Le docteur Steve Julien * Marisa Muxen - Estelle Servais * Bill Dunn - Cornell * - Bohr * Dominique Zardi - Le chef des fous

Release

Reception

Awards and nominations

''Litan'' won the Critics Award at the

Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival The Avoriaz International Fantastic Film Festival (french: Festival international du film fantastique d'Avoriaz) was a film festival held in the French resort of Avoriaz between 1973 and 1993. It was the precursor to the current Gérardmer Inter ...

. It also won the award for Best Screenplay at the

Catalonian International Film Festival The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy and horror films, of which it is considered one of the world's foremost in ...

References

External links

* * * 1980s avant-garde and experimental films 1982 films 1982 horror films Films set in France Films shot in France French avant-garde and experimental films French horror films 1980s French-language films Films directed by Jean-Pierre Mocky 1980s French films {{1980s-horror-film-stub