By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Ladj Ly
Starring: Alexis Manenti | Damien Bonnard | Djebril Zonga | Issa Perica
Country: france
Year: 2020
Running time: 104
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10199590/reference
Thom says: “Over the many years of my life I have seen a few classic films about disenfranchised children trying to exist in the cruel inner cities of the world. How can one ever forget LOS OLVIDADOS, PIXOTE, LA HAINE, or SALAAM BOMBAY. And this first feature by Ladj Ly is an equal of those films. A policeman from the provinces moves to Paris to be near his son who lives with his divorced wife. He is assigned to the Montfermeil Anti-Crime Brigade. Montfermeil is the 93rd District of Paris, the area where Victor Hugo wrote his masterpiece LES MISERABLES, which explains the title, which, I, too, was confused by. The previews didn’t look at all like the classic tale. To learn the routine the new detective is assigned to two cops that are on the beat. They are both racist, violent, & mean spirited not above breaking the rules if they come out on top. The newbie though is kind-hearted, responsible, concerned , and absolutely horrified by his partners’ attitudes and total lack of respect of the young kids they are constantly harassing. One of the young toughies steals a lion cub from a traveling circus and since the Ringmaster is pals with the local crime boss all Hell breaks loose, and our disparate trio are sent out to capture the young culprit. Over the course of the film things go from bad to worse, eventually ending in a riot with an enigmatic but profound ending. That the director is able to achieve such spot-on performances from his ensemble cast, and weave expertly through his complex script that evinces a marvelous sense of objective representation. Maybe the two bad cops are a tad too good-looking because no one ever called Hitler or Trump good-looking, but they’re still easy to hate. And I loved the Hugo quote at the end of the film, which said essentially: There are no bad men or bad plants, only bad cultivators. The film did get an Oscar Foreign Film Nomination, but there was no chance in Hell that it would win over PARASITE, still a great achievement. 5 cats“