Some of the last great films of the decade paraded along the Cannes red carpet in 2019 and those that would largely leave their mark for those to come in the next. Among them were none other than once upon a time in hollywood by Quentin Tarantino, pain and glory of Pedro Almodovar, Portrait of a woman on fire of Celine Sciamma or the same Parasites of Bong Joon-ho, which would emerge as the winner and would later be crowned at the Oscars. However, in that edition there was another film that would mark a before and after in its genre and that would largely anticipate many of the things that happen now.
We talk about The Miserablesthe film with which the French director Ladj Ly (Roubaix, 1978) burst into Cannes and the rest of the world with great force and self-confidence. The filmmaker of Malian origin, who had already approached the banlieues Parisians (the peripheral neighborhoods) with his first works, he used fiction to make a harsh and stark portrait of life in the periphery with real characters, authentic dialogues and absolutely no violence. spectacularized or censored.
A film that would have its own echo in reality with the riots of June 28, 2023 after the death of the young man Nahel Merzouk that would shake France. They were just the first flames of a bonfire that is more alive than ever, with the rise of the right in France and a climate of constant tension in the streets. With all this in mind, it comes out to theaters The undesirablesspiritual sequel of The Miserables regarding his approach to a new banlieuebut this time focusing not so much on the police, but on the politicians.
In the film we are told the story of one of these banlieuesin which the arrival of a new mayor (Alexis Manenti) promotes a series of drastic changes that light the flame of a neighborhood that is increasingly tense with its marginalization. From those sparks it lights Haby (Anta Diaw)a young woman who works in the City Council archive while collaborating in a solidarity organization and who, given the situation, meditates run as new mayor to confront the corruption that threatens to displace them.
Question: It became known with The Miserables, which was a film that had much more impact than expected and ended up representing France at the Oscars. How did you approach this new project after that success? Does the second movie cost more?
Answer: Absolutely, of course. After the success of The Miserables There was a lot of pressure, because that was a totally unexpected success, we weren’t even sure if we could do it, since we had very little money and the success was a total surprise. Then I felt that I had to live up to it, there was a lot of pressure and I did my best to try to give the best of myself.
Q: If in that film the focus was on the police force that tours the suburbs of Montfermeil, in this one it maintains the atmosphere but changes the gaze higher up, to the politicians. Are these the real people responsible for what is happening in France?
A: The Miserables He spoke of social violence and police violence as well. But after sending a message to the President of the Republic, who was the same one as now, sounding the alarm and seeing that nothing is moving, that everything remains exactly the same… It’s a danger, right? We must realize that the first people responsible for all this are the politicians. Politicians have not been able to provide a solution, a single response in more than 40 years of this. That’s why I decided to make a film about a neighborhood mayor, because he is the one who has the most direct contact with the people who live in the suburbs who must first take action.
Q: In your films there are a series of characters and dialogues that feel very authentic. But there is a specific type of character that was already in The Miserables and that is represented here again, which is that of Roger Roche, a link between the political class and the neighborhood, someone who has grown up in the banlieue but he seems to have betrayed her.
A: In all my characters I am inspired by reality, they are people who have existed or existed, who I have even met, like Roche’s character. In every city, in every neighborhood you have someone like him. Someone who when he started I do not doubt that he did not have good intentions, but who over time also ends up falling into corruption. And that is what I wanted to denounce, that political corruption goes from the top to the bottom, and that even those who have the best intentions can end up completely sold to the system.
Q: So do you think there are no longer reasons to continue trusting the political class, or can characters like Haby still change this systemic corruption?
A: What Haby represents is hope. People like Haby are needed right now; sincere people, people who really do something, who are militants and who have been fighting in the neighborhood for years in exchange for nothing. Almost three quarters of French people no longer believe in politics simply because of the usual politicians. We have to rethink politics, reinvent politics. Here in France, the 5th Republic no longer has anything to offer, you could say it is dead. So I encourage young people to participate in politics, to vote. It is important, but it is also important to make a different policy, to turn it around.
Q: Speaking of politicians… How are you seeing everything that happens in your country?
A: Right now I’m ashamed of being French. A country like France, which was important, no one respects us in the world anymore. Macron is the laughingstock of the world, it must be said, Macron is a laughingstock. Nobody respects him. He threatens to make war on Putin, but what is he about? What does France have, 200 tanks? And Putin? (Snorts)… We need serious people to make us move forward. Because we must recognize that France right now is a failure. The National Front is the first, it has more votes than anyone else. They already have the power. It is a scandal and a shame.
Q: Are you afraid of what may happen in the next elections or do you still have some hope?
A: With the elections I am afraid, very afraid. For the future of my country, but also for the future of my children, because what is going to happen is that a Nazi party is going to govern us. Let’s not fool ourselves, the National Front is a party of Nazis, created by former Nazis like Marine Le Pen’s father. France is falling and the only possible solution is for all those who abstain this time to go vote. Only then maybe we can stop them. But come on, for me it’s horrible, we are going to become a fascist country. In that sense, long live Spain for resisting and for recognizing Palestine as a country, among other things.
Q: And after the elections, the Olympic Games. It doesn’t seem like the best time…
A: I’m not staying for the Olympic Games, I’m packing everything and going outside with my family. I mean, I’m not going to be in Paris during this time. No, I don’t think there is anything to celebrate. Honestly, I don’t think we deserve these Games either. And the way the organization is, the security and all this… it’s a little scary. Anything can happen. And it is for all this that I am leaving.
Q: The Miserables was prophetic in many ways and The undesirables It is on its way to being one too. For your next film, do you already have any ideas or are you going to wait for events to develop?
A: For me this has always been a 30-year trilogy, with each film spanning a decade. About the next one, the to close the trilogy, I can only tell you that I haven’t started writing it yet but I already have the idea floating around. The Miserables was happening today and The undesirables in the 2000s, so in this one we will go back to the 90s.
