[critical] A FRENCH

Wasaving done a few days before its release due to cancellations before the first “fear” of some cinemas and broadcasters, A FRENCH arrived in the dining room preceded by a bad reputation, and that of a film punch that will make a commotion in the sludge of the French extreme right. And for good reason, the film tells the story of Marco, a young skinhead penchant nazi, who, after a youth that was turbulent, full of fights and xenophobic acts, will buy a redemption on the 30 years to come. On paper, the film promises to be busy and potentially exciting. The reality in film is any other …

Diastema, a successful author of theatre and previously director of the comedy-drama the Noise of The people around in 2008, writing his scenario after the shock of the assault and the death of Clément Méric following a brawl with a group of extreme right-wing in 2013. What catches the attention of Diastema in this story, they are the aggressors and this band, of which he would have recognized some of the faces, having crossed in his teens. The story of the film will then take the body in a story that will cross the years and the tragedies related to the political groups or not of the extreme right. The director axis, therefore, his narration on a small group of friends with good character and we must say well stupid.

After a good exposure and some scenes of shock, the first thing that stands out in the film is the interpretation embodied its actors, Alban Lenoir, Samuel Jouy and Paul Hamy in mind. This trio infernal sows terror in bars and public places in search of their favourite victims, of the French of immigrant background, in particular the maghreb. The film, initially, is well paced and the camera shoulder is very effective for scenes of violence. But only here, the film begins to expose its weakness as the story is built, and that comes from the redemption of Marco. The camera shoulder tires, the secondary characters are poorly written and caricatured, the dialogues are at the limit of poverty and leave the poor actors delivered them to their fate, the staging too clumsy and didactic exhibits, unfortunately, weaknesses of production and especially the storyline is uninteresting, because the treatment chosen ally for ellipses browsing through the film makes it completely superficial, the story of the hero and his entourage. There is no reflection around the psychology of these young misfits, nothing to give to eat to the viewer.

“The film misses out on almost everything that he should have been.”

Still the political message, even if the director refuses to do so, he said, and it is quite clear. In the Face of rising nationalism and the media coverage of the national front and its ilk, Diastema attack where it hurts, in speaking of the boneheads on the far right , groups of thugs, worshipping the fighting and beer-drinking not expensive sowing confusion shots ” ratonnades “, as they say, and jokes to serious consequences. And these groups then pass through the decades to follow by becoming a media base for far-right parties or by political commitment, or by participating in the security of the processions notorious for their blunders. And here, again, Diastema, missing its shot in a film that is ultimately harmless enough so it aligns with the caricatures of the surface without even taking the time to study a single one of his characters or even understand them. Only the hate beast, and wicked seems to be the engine of these people, political or mere henchmen. It is far from the power and the diving raging in the world of skinheads English of the 80s, directed by Alan Clarke in his frightening Made in Britain with the huge Tim Roth …

In sum, A FRENCH is a film that misses just about everything that he should have been. Diastema misses its target by a lack of cinematography, and a true master in his message and his story. Only these actors are the movie an artistic disaster, and there is no doubt that we will see you again soon Alban Lenoir and especially Paul Hamy in our rooms favorite.

The other outputs of the June 10, 2015

JURASSIC WORLD, A FRENCH, LIKE AN AIRPLANE, CINEMA PARADISO (illustrated), A DREAM TEAM, THE WORLD OF NATHAN, THE BREATH, etc