A shoe-string budget, but watch out, Hollywood casting! For their first film shot in
Saint-Fons, on the outskirts of Lyon, Nicolas Boone and Olivier Bosson warn us of
the scale of the show “50 actors and 300 extras, all recruited in situ.” That is how
here in the midst of this fresco, which unfolds so unpredictably, the figures in this
film appear so natural - a team of sociologists, racketeers, a school principal,
doctors, a young florist, an estate agent, etc. As they set off, the two directors take
us by the hand on a comical journey, full of twists and turns, in a suburb that is just
like any other. Making light of clichés as they go, stereotypical situations blithely
and slyly lead us through a series of sketches which link together in a chain, like
word association games, allowing the story to move forwards. Yet the challenge is
not so much that of a comic procession, but an alternative, even tender portrait of
the estate and its inhabitants. In short, if naturalism and the picturesque give way
to humour, it is only to enhance the social portrait echoing Bunuel’s last films, not
to mention Mocky’s sketches. With japes, respect and delirium, the film generously
brings to life singular individuals, scratching below the surface of convention, boring
into words and viewpoints in a folly of extravagance that is actually both sharper
and gentler than it might seem at first. (NF)