Jumbo movie storyline. Jeanne is a young girl who lives with her mother and works the night shift at the local fairground. She discovers a newly installed ride and begins to spend lots of time carefully cleaning it and chatting to it. One evening, she gets a reply; so begins a bizarre love story between girl and machine. Zoé Wittock’s debut feature Jumbo is a surrealist portrayal of object sexuality.
By night, Jeanne’s romance with Jumbo is sensual and sincere; by day, she seems insane and severely in need of help. The film skillfully uses lighting to capture this nighttime sensuality: Jeanne’s face illuminated in the dark by Jumbo’s bright neon lights is a visualization of their communication and intimacy. He is projecting himself onto her, and she unto him.
Contrastingly, the moments we see Jumbo in broad daylight are jarring and upsetting. He appears as a hunk of metal the other characters cannot see past. We also see Jeanne as others see her: a frumpy girl in an oversized uniform who won’t look anyone in the eye. By day, the romance dwindles into a crazy obsession; by night, we return to the magical intimate space between Jeanne and Jumbo.
Jumbo is about desire, about relationships, about love, about sex. It is also about a girl who falls in love with a fairground ride. This is a 2020 drama film written and directed by Zoé Wittock in her feature directorial debut. An international co-production of France, Belgium and Luxembourg, the film stars Noémie Merlant, Emmanuelle Bercot, Bastien Bouillon and Sam Louwyck.
It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2020. It was released in Belgium on 18 March 2020, by O’Brother Distribution, and was released in France on July 1, 2020, by Rezo Films. At the 11th Magritte Awards, Jumbo was nominated for two awards, including Best First Feature Film.
Jumbo (2020)
Directed by: Zoé Wittock
Starring: Noémie Merlant, Emmanuelle Bercot, Bastien Bouillon, Sam Louwyck, Tracy Dossou, Jonathan Bartholmé, Noah Daccrissio, Idao Daccrissio, Stephen Rohde, Jimmy Raphaël, Chris Caligo
Screenplay by: Zoé Wittock
Production Design by: William Abello
Cinematography by: Thomas Buelens
Film Editing by: Thomas Fernandez
Costume Design by: Carine Ceglarski
Set Decoration by: Valérie Valéro
Art Direction by: Mathieu Buffler
Music by: Thomas Roussel
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Rezo Films, O’Brother Distribution
Release Date: January 24, 2020 (Sundance), March 18, 2020 (Belgium), July 1, 2020 (France)
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