| They Came Back | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Robin Campillo |
| Produced by | Caroline Benjo Carole Scotta |
| Written by | Robin Campillo Brigitte Tijou |
| Starring | Géraldine Pailhas Jonathan Zaccaï Frédéric Pierrot |
| Music by | Jocelyn Pook Martin Wheeler |
| Cinematography | Jeanne Lapoirie |
| Editing by | Robin Campillo |
| Release date(s) | 2004 |
| Running time | 102 min. |
| Language | French |
They Came Back (French: Les Revenants) is a French zombie film, originally released in 2004. The film was screened at the Hamburg Fantasy Filmfest in Hamburg, Germany, the Venice Film Festival in Italy, and the Toronto Film Festival in Canada.
Unlike modern zombie films, in which the undead characters wish to digest or otherwise harm the human characters, the 70 million people who return from the dead in They Came Back want simply to re-integrate themselves into society. In the French village where the film takes place, the town's population must cope with the social and emotional ramifications of the dead coming back to life. The dead are not unlike children, having to relearn how to talk and remember. [1]
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As the movie begins, a slow moving mostly gray haired crowd walk through a French town. These people are clean, combed, and casually dressed. Integration with society becomes the first issue that concerns the town politics. While the authorities monitor and record movements, habits, sociability, and intelligence the personal relationships between the returned and their respective live spouses and parents comes into the foreground. Painful memories are awakened, guilt, fear, love, even unearthed passions are aroused. However, monitoring the returnees shows them to be very much apart from their live cohabitants and in fact involved in late night clandestine meetings, seemingly plotting with more intelligence than they are exhibiting in their day jobs.