La Graine et le mulet (2007) - film review

Despite his age, Slimane Beiji, a 60-year-old North African immigrant, continues to toil for a meagre wage at a shipyard in the southern French town of Sète.  It is work that exhausts him, physically and morally, and this merely adds to his sense that his life has been a total failure.  His dream is to open his own restaurant but he clearly hasn’t the means to do so.   Moved by the old man’s plight, his relatives, who have financial worries of their own, decide to work together to make his dream a reality...

It was only a decade ago that some wise old Cassandras were predicting the decline of the auteur in French cinema.  Certainly, there were (and still are) signs that the commercial imperative is gradually gaining ground over artistic motivation, with some French filmmakers even opting to make their films in English in order to boost receipts in the lucrative overseas market.   As things stand at the moment, these concerns appear to be somewhat overplayed.  In fact, French cinema has rarely had it so good, sustained by generous state subsidies, far-sighted film producers and a growing interest at home and abroad in ’serious’ films.  The auteur still reigns in the land of Marianne and Astérix, rien n'est plus sûr.

One of the most promising directors in the latest wave of French film auteurs is Abdel Kechiche, a Tunisian who started out as an actor before directing his first film in France in 2000, La Faute à Voltaire.  Widespread acclaim came with his next film, L'Esquive (2003), which won him the Best Director and Best Film awards at the 2005 Césars (as well as awards for Best Writing and Most Promising Actress).  His third film, La Graine et le mulet (a.k.a. Couscous), is his most ambitious work to date and immediately established him as one of France’s leading filmmakers.  This film not only repeated Kechiche’s César win in 2008 (four awards, in the same four categories as 2005) but also won him the coveted Prix Louis Delluc (2007) and a brace of awards at the 2007 Venice Film Festival (including the Special Jury Prize and FIPRESCI Prize).  Kechiche is living proof that the film auteur is still very much alive and thriving.

Whilst it is doubtful that La Graine et le mulet deserves all the praise that has been heaped upon it, it is certainly a refreshing alternative to the synthetic and all-too-predictable dramas that come out of Hollywood these days.  Kechiche’s near-documentary approach brings a resounding authenticity to this modest slice-of-life drama in which a Tunisian community in a southern French town helps an unemployed old man to fulfil his life’s dream.  As in his previous films, Kechiche’s understated mise-en-scène is in perfect alignment with the simplicity of the narrative, heightening the sense of realism whilst also exposing some complex social themes of a racial and cultural nature.   The film’s only weaknesses are a frustrating lack of plot cohesion and a needlessly drawn out and ambiguous ending.

As befits a quality social drama, the characters are exceptionally well-drawn and convincingly played by a cast of largely non-professional actors.  The rapport between the lead actors Habib Boufares and Hafsia Herzi (who play the old man and his lover’s daughter) has a beautiful warmth and reality to it, something which would be hard to replicate with trained actors.  The film’s portrayal of immigrants struggling to overcome true economic hardship and integrate with their host nation is moving and inspiring, providing an effective counter to the currently prevailing notion that all immigrants are a threat.  La Graine et le mulet reminds us of the power of the auteur to help us to see the world through new eyes, and to show us the absurdity of our prejudices.

© James Travers 2010

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