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NATIONALE 7
Jean-Pierre Sinapi, France, 1999
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René is an embittered, foul-mouthed, well-read individual whose only joy in life is derived from being as obnoxious as possible to all those unfortunate enough to cross the path of his wheelchair. Successfully upsetting the last in a long line of care workers at the residential home where he lives, René's put-upon new recruit Julie, far from being the sensitive soul she first appears, actually represents more than a match for his barbed comments.
Having found a respectful middle ground with Julie, René reveals the cause of his abusive frustrations. He wants to get laid. It's proposed that René visit a prostitute to cure his 'malady' which Julie researches with pragmatic precision; measuring wheelchair access on the caravan site along the notorious Route 7. Meanwhile, word's got out that René's jovial mood is attributable to his prescribed sex, opening the floodgates to the suppressed desires of every resident, including Rabah, the obsessive Johnny Halliday fan.
Jean-Pierre Sinapi's extraordinary debut is based on a real-life account related to him by his sister, a care worker and the inspiration for Julie. Sinapi's exploration of sexual and religious freedom crosses all boundaries. The effects of loneliness are not purely isolated to those with 'accepted' disabilities; seclusion saddens the lives of all the characters. It's a point that Sinapi makes with charming subtly, before illustrating the healing power of sexual relationships.
Sinapi's careering, dodging camerawork shares a fluidity and freedom in tandem with the principals propounded in the Dogme manifesto. His cruising style of digital cinéma-vérité effectively contrasts with the immobility of his subjects but more significantly, ensures a narrative pace that gallops to giddying levels of enjoyment.
Best known for his roles in the Dardennes brothers' Rosetta and The Son, Olivier Gourmet is frighteningly charismatic as the obstreperous René, alongside a superb cast of abled and disabled actors.
Through intelligence and biting humour, Sinapi reveals a damaging level of cultural hypocrisy and perhaps surprisingly for a film inspired by socio-political issues, Nationale 7 is a telling, tender relief.
Clare Norton-Smith
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Nationale 7 was originally conceived as one of a collection of digital films for French TV
