Germinal Roaux's 'Cosmos' is a Hypnotic Black-and-White Meditation on Life and Death

Eight years after his award-winning film 'Fortuna' about unaccompanied minor refugees, Swiss director Germinal Roaux returns with 'Cosmos', a black-and-white feature that transforms image into sensation. Set in a village abandoned by humans in the Yucatán jungle, Mexico, the film follows Léon, an illiterate peasant in love with nature and its spirits, whose home is slated for demolition to make way for a road. His path crosses with Lena, a wealthy widow and university literature professor suffering from an incurable disease, who has chosen to die in a large isolated mansion nearby. Their encounter is devastating. Dialogue is sparse in this organic, poetic work. Roaux was a guest of Marjorie Bertin on RFI. 'Cosmos' opens in French theaters on May 6.