Travail d'Arabe (2003)
Directed by Christian Philibert

Film Review

Director Christian Philibert makes light of some pretty serious social themes in this engaging realist-styled comedy.  As in his previous film, Les quatre saisons d'espigoule (1999), Philibert uses a raw documentary-style approach to immerse the spectator in a far from comfortable world - a world marked by strong emotion, violence, fear, financial insecurity and naked humanity.   Philbert's mix of professional and non-professional actors do an excellent job of conveying the realism of their situation whilst effectively satirising the character types they are portraying.

Travail d'Arabe could have been a very tough social drama, but instead it's an attractive, irresistibly funny comedy.  For the most part, it is preoccupied with sending up cowboy heating engineers (and brilliantly so), although it also makes some meaningful statements on a few serious themes - for example, how society treats the elderly, how hopeless the law is at dealing with con merchants, and how difficult it is for an outsider to find his way back into society.  An improbable melange of farce and truth makes this an enjoyable and socially relevant film d'auteur with great popular appeal.

Film Synopsis

Momo is a French Arab of North African origin who has just come out of prison after serving a short sentence for drugs dealing.  His homecoming is not what he would have liked.  Driven away by his unforgiving father, he ends up living with his sister, who, encouraged by Momo's determination to turn over a new leaf, finds him work with a small company that installs central heating systems.  Despite his best efforts to prove to his employers, the Gutti brothers, that he is the model employee, Momo is shocked by the appalling way in which their openly racist staff treat their customers.  Not long after some work was done on her central heating, an old woman suddenly drops dead and Momo is convinced that sloppy workmanship was to blame...