Une minute de silence (1998) - film review

Two friends, Marek, a Polish immigrant, and Mimmo, an Italian, work in a coal mine in the town of Merlebach, near to the French-German border.  They have worked in the mine since they were 16 but now, aged 25, they have become disillusioned with their lives.  Mimmo dreams of making a fresh start elsewhere, but Marek sees no future for himself outside of the pit.  Things come to a head when they discover that the French government intends to close the pit.  Marek intends to join the demonstration against the strike...

Florent-Emilio Siri’s first full length-film earned him the Cyril Collard prize in 1998, although it enjoyed only a short and not hugely successful run at the cinema.  Although competently made, with some impressive acting (notably from Benoît Magimel and Bruno Putzulu) and some occasionally mesmerising cinematography, the film suffers from lack of focus and the absence of any clear message.

The film is based on real-life events involving a French mining community in 1995.  Unfortunately, rather than offering a sobering account of the plight of French miners at the hands of an unscrupulous government, the film merely uses these events as little more than a colourful backdrop to a rather drab and unconvincing tale of adolescent ennui.  In fact, the miners, young and old, are portrayed as lecherous drunken louts, something which is hardly calculated to endear them to the film’s audience.

The film culminates in a shockingly visceral confrontation between French riot police and demonstrating miners.  Although the realism is carried a little too far, this is perhaps the only scene in the film which engages the audience and delivers genuine impact, albeit at a very basic level.  The physical violence provides a stark metaphor for the brutality of a French government determined to press ahead with pit closures, come what may.  Unfortunately, Siri seems incapable of following this hugely dramatic scene and the film just peters out, apparently having completely lost sight of where it might have been heading.

© James Travers 2000

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