L'esquive (2003)

Director:

Abdel Kechiche

Writer:

Ghalya Laroix (adaptation)

Release Date:

7 January 2004 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

French Suburb | Theater | Rehearsal | Teenager

Awards:

12 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Osman Elkharraz	...	Krimo
Sara Forestier	...	Lydia
Sabrina Ouazani	...	Frida
Nanou Benhamou	...	Nanou
Hafet Ben-Ahmed	...	Fathi
Aurélie Ganito	...	Magalie
Carole Franck	...	French Professor
Hajar Hamlili	...	Zina
Rachid Hami	...	Rachid
Meryem Serbah	...	Krimo's Mother
Hanane Mazouz	...	Hanane
Sylvain Phan	...	Slam
Olivier Loustau	...	Policier
Rosalie Symon	...	Policier
Patrick Kodjo Topou	...	Policier
Lucien Tipaldi	...	Policier
Reinaldo Wong	...	Le couturier
Nu Du	...	Couturière
Ki Hong	...	Couturière
Brigitte Bellony-Riskwait	...	Couturière
Ariyapitipum Naruemol	...	Couturière
Fatima Lahbib	...	Couturière
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Maureen Béchet	...	Oiseau
Maria Beloso-Hall	...	Institutrice
Abdelkrim Benabdeslem	...	Oiseau
Jawad Benabdeslem	...	Oiseau
Mohamed Benabdeslem	...	Copain de Krimo
Leslie Bernardin	...	Elève
Fabio Camoes	...	Copain de Krimo
Julie Cassama	...	Elève
Philippe Chou	...	Oiseau
Eliane De Macedo	...	Elève
Sidi Dembélé	...	Elève
Anice Djebali	...	Elève
Mounir El Kebeh	...	Elève
Warren Gautran	...	Elève
Driss Haddane	...	Elève
Lydie Houchène	...	Soeur de Zina
Sonia Houchène	...	Soeur de Zina
Kama Kotta	...	Elève
Mamou Kotta	...	Elève
Ruddi Koutodjo-Foly	...	Elève
Nassima Mous	...	Elève
Melissa Osmani	...	Oiseau
Nabil Osmani	...	Copain de Krimo
Djamel Ouazani	...	Copain de Krimo
Ahmed Ralah	...	Elève
Mariam Sangare	...	Elève
Fatou Sano	...	Oiseau
Nafisatou Sano	...	Oiseau
Linda Sef	...	Elève
Baba Traoré	...	Elève

Directed by
Abdel Kechiche		(as Abdellatif Kechiche)

Writing credits
Ghalya Laroix		(adaptation and dialogue)

Produced by
Franck Cabot-David	....	associate producer
Jacques Ouaniche	....	producer
Charles Taris	....	associate producer

Cinematography by
Lubomir Bakchev		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ghalya Laroix

Casting by
Monya Galbi

Production Design by
Michel Gionti		(as Michel-Ange Gionti)

Costume Design by
Maria Beloso-Hall

Production Management
Jacques-Emmanuel Astor	....	unit manager (as Jacques Emmanuel Astor)
Jean-François Gomis	....	assistant unit manager
Mireia Ibars	....	post-production manager
Emeric Le Jouan	....	trainee unit manager
Eric Nebot	....	trainee unit manager
Benoît Pilot	....	production manager
Kamel Saadi	....	assistant unit manager
Nasser Seddik	....	assistant unit manager
Benjamin Treussard	....	supervising unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Carlo Da Fonseca Parsotam	....	first assistant director
Monya Galbi	....	assistant director
Sylvie Peyre	....	assistant director: preparation
Bettina Sanchez	....	second assistant director

Sound Department
Christophe Bourreau	....	foley artist
Sophie Bousquet-Foures	....	sound editor (as Sophie Bousquet)
Jérôme Chenevoy	....	boom operator
Emmanuel Croset	....	sound mixer
Jérôme Pierrot	....	boom operator
Nicolas Waschkowski	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Cecile Ancelin	....	assistant camera
Sofian El Fani	....	camera operator (as Sofian Elfani)
Loïc Malavard	....	still photographer
Frida Marzouk	....	assistant camera
Mathieu Normand	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Antonella Bevenja	....	negative cutter
Christophe Bousquet	....	color timer
Violeta Fernandez	....	assistant editor (as Violeta Fernàndez)
Frida Marzouk	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Antoine Banville	....	music editor
Raoul Cepelnik	....	musician
Hasni	....	musician
Dario Ivkovic	....	musician
Zahouania	....	musician
Branislav Zdravkovi	....	musician

Other crew
Stephanie Altamirano	....	production secretary (as Stéphanie Altamirano)
Hadra Kemon	....	administrator
Ghalya Laroix	....	script supervisor

Thanks
Yannick Bernard	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Lola Films
• Noé Productions
• CinéCinéma (participation) (as CinéCiméma)

Distributors

• Rézo Films (2003) (France) (theatrical)
• Films Distribution (2003) (worldwide) (all media)
• FSK Kino & Peripher Filmverleih GmbH (2005) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Filmcooperative (2004) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• IFA (2007) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Mikado Film (2005) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Mikado (2005) (Italy) (theatrical)
• New Yorker Films (2005) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• TVA Films (2005) (Canada) (theatrical) (Québec)
• Notro Films (2005) (Spain) (all media)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (2007) (Argentina) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Bogard  camera equipment provided by
• Cinéma l'Ecran  thanks
• Ex Machina  remote video recording
• Excalibur  end titles
• Go Sport  thanks
• La ville de Saint Denis  thanks
• Les Audis Jackson  sound recording studio
• SMJ de Bobigny  thanks
• Transpalux  lighting equipment

Also Known As:

Games of Love and Chance (International: English title)
Votre bouche avec la mienne (France) (working title)

Runtime:

France:117 min | USA:123 min | Argentina:117 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Hong Kong:III | New Zealand:R13 | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud)

Company:

Lola Films

Trivia:

The movie is dedicated Slaheddine.

Trapped

This movie is getting fresh exposure in France thanks to its win at Les Césars, or the "French Oscars" as other countries like to call them. Its success will probably mean that it now gets exposure outside the country, too, and I wonder how successfully.

Though an accurate and contemporary examination of France, the film's world is a foreign one, even to many people living here--the specificity of the setting (the projects, in a "suburb" of Paris), the language (rapid-fire, slangy, "vulgar", and peppered with "verlan", a street language of inverted syllables--the word itself could translate as "wardsback", and how anyone will translate this dialogue I have no idea), and the behavior (mostly arguing--strident, pushy, beautifully repetitive) may not play clearly outside of France. I'm not sure how clearly it plays here, or how willing people are to watch it, especially as it turns the idea of the scary bad French projects somewhat on its ear.

This isn't a criticism of the movie; on the contrary. Kechiche has shot a riveting cross-section of teenagers growing up in social housing, in broken homes and poverty, who lack the tools of expression, and who have adopted the posturing of the wounded (and, in the story, almost entirely absent) adults who raise them, attacking (the movie unfolds at a near-constant level of verbal aggression) and dodging ("esquiver" means "to dodge" or "to evade") one another's attacks with all they can muster.

The film's intensely political side feels almost accidental; in its unfolding, it has great heart, and its actors, who are apparently mostly amateurs from around the shooting location, are outstanding. On the whole, it reminded me a great deal of David Gordon Green's George Washington: a simple love story set against a landscape of poverty, played out frankly and honestly, allowed to unfold at a distinctly un-Hollywoodian rhythm. If Green's film is more beautiful cinematic ally, L'Esquive is more concentrated, more unflinching in its examination of the deep repercussions and violence of economic, social, and familial hardship. Its statement that France is no longer a country of the French-of-French-ancestry, and that its refusal to accept its own transformation does not mean its lost generation accepts its loss, could not be more clearly nor more poignantly made.

Without spoiling or going into detail, there are things about the plot that are implausible, things that probably hurt the film overall, but watching this movie for plot is like watching Ocean's Eleven for social insight. This is a positive study of character in a bad situation, of a stratum of society rarely filmed and still more rarely treated as fairly as it is offered up here, beautifully and eloquently.