Fragments of Antonin

A psychiatrist who probes the mind of traumatized soldiers attempts to unlock the secret that drove a gentle but deeply-disturbed World War I veteran to the edge of insanity in the feature debut from writer/director Gabriel Le Bomin. While most physicians casually dismiss the visibly disquieting ailments of the afflicted veterans who occupy the hospital beds in his institution as malingering, Dr. Labrousse (Aurelien Recoing) tends to look a bit deeper before making his diagnosis. Antonin (Gregori Derangere) is a patient of Dr. Labrousse's who, despite being assigned the decidedly non-violent duty of tending to carrier pigeons, has now become locked in a catatonic state. Confounded as to how Antonin fell victim to such severe battle fatigue, Dr. Labrousse turns a camera on his patient and gradually begins to introduce a variety of different stimuli that will help him to better gauge the true impact of the damaged man's trauma. It is precisely this stimuli that unlocks Antonin's deeply suppressed memories about the war, and begins to reveal that his malady is not the result of the things that happened to him, but the horrifying sights be bore witness to as the war dragged on and ravaged the bodies of his fellow soldiers.~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide