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À LA PLACE DU COEUR
Robert Guediguian, France, 1998
Saturday 30 July 2005 10pm-11.50pm
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French writer-director Robert Guediguian once said that he divides
his work into two broad categories: there are tales like A L'Attaque!,
in which he playfully twists reality into a more positive direction,
and there are his more pessimistic films, such as this, a moving portrait
of blue-collar life in Guediguian's home city of Marseilles.
Clim (Raoust) is 16, pregnant, and deeply in love with her sculptor
boyfriend Bebe (Alexandre Ogou). Unfortunately Bebe is in jail,
having been framed by a racist policeman for raping an immigrant
woman.
The parents of both youngsters attempt to gain justice for Bebe,
with Clim's mother Marianne (Ascaride) even journeying to Bosnia
to persuade the victim to withdraw her testimony.
Back in Marseilles, Bebe's adoptive father Franck (Meylan), a
hard-drinking docker, is struggling to cope with the strain of the
case.
Based on James Baldwin's novel If Beale Street Could Talk, A La
Place du Coeur is a model example of how to adapt a literary text
into an expressive piece of cinema. Utilising a dreamy voice-over
from Clim, and cutting backwards and forwards in time, Guediguian
also deploys several stylistic flourishes to ensure that the film
transcends gritty realism.
Crucially, the filmmaker treats his characters with genuine compassion,
and handles the various issues - racism, mixed-race relationships,
alcoholism, unemployment - with a refreshing lightness of touch.
The poignant performances (especially from Meylan and Jean-Pierre
Darroussin as Clim's father), cinematographer Bernard Cavalie's
vivid images, and the Liszt score help ensure that the struggles
of Guediguian's 'ordinary people' to take care of one another acquire
a heroic dimension.
Tom Dawson
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