‘Rodeo’ Reveals the Kinetic Rage – and Joy – of Motorbike Street Racing in France
Like the burst of a roaring drag race, Lola Quivoron’s first feature “Rodeo” will shake you out of your seat with its angry, kinetic force as it follows a young woman who forces her way into a street gang that rides motorbikes (hard), steals and lives on the edge. Playing in the “Un Certain Regard” section of the Cannes Film Festival, the film premiered to a lengthy standing ovation on Thursday, with the jury joined by a sprawling cast made up mostly of the men of the “B-More” crew who fix, steal and ride bikes as a full-time obsession. The French director moves her camera right up close into the face of her protagonist, newcomer Julie Ledru (“Julia”), a wild child with a face of world-worn injury and unruly hair to match. In the opening scene.