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CANNES 2021 Competition

Review: Paris, 13th District

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- CANNES 2021: Jacques Audiard embarks upon a rejuvenating experience with unfettered freedom, subtly criss-crossing the trajectories and relationships of four modern-day youngsters

Review: Paris, 13th District
Lucie Zhang and Makita Samba in Paris, 13th District

It’s always the other person who picks out the right key to the door. Over the course of his highly prolific filmmaking career, Jacques Audiard has already explored and mastered all the many ramifications and stratifications pertaining to the subject of territory (from the prison in A Prophet [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacques Audiard
interview: Jacques Audiard and Tahar R…
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]
to the housing project in Dheepan [+see also:
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Q&A: Jacques Audiard
film profile
]
, to give just two iconic examples). But in these instances, the director broached the matter via the abrupt path of a socially engaged film noir (to put it simply) and, given that he no longer needed to prove his expertise in the area, he clearly found himself hungry for new spaces, firstly for big spaces in the form of the “to order” western The Sisters Brothers [+see also:
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interview: Jacques Audiard
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]
, and now for those associated with modern-day French youth, as in Paris, 13th District [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(presented in competition at the 74th Cannes Film Festival), which is a remarkable work of suggestive delicacy, travelling along a network of wonderful dialogued and highly refreshing sentimental paths (and day-to-day lives, more generally - the director has, on this occasion, opened himself up to new influences by joining forces, for the very first time, with woman co-screenwriters - and not just any, for that matter: Céline Sciamma and Léa Mysius – in order to adapt three stories by the US comic book author Adrian Tomine).

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In visual (black and white) terms, the territory in question is first and foremost the grid of looming tower blocks in the southern regions of Paris’s 13th district, the area known as Les Olympiades which is a world away from the usual film clichés surrounding the French capital ("it looks like Shanghai !"). Afterwards, it’s that of a group of French, multi-ethnic youngsters composed of Émilie (Lucie Zhang), Camille (Makita Samba), Nora (Noémie Merlant) and Amber Sweet (Jehnny Beth), whose seemingly fluid and almost interchangeable relationships mask real interpersonal handicaps (competitiveness, rules, doubts, emptiness, screens, immaturity, egocentrism, collective nastiness, etc.). Everything seems very laid back: they sleep around, they dance, they sing, they move from one job to another, but things aren’t always rosy between them and it’s not always easy to properly share territory ("when Camille’s here, you’re on our ground; when he’s not here, you’re on my ground; but it’s never your ground", "we have a good time but we’re not together", "I like you but we’re not best friends"), nor, by extension, to find and accept everyone’s place (including our own) within a given social group (think tolerance, the right to be wrong, responsibility and the ability to listen and engage in dialogue).


Divided into three parts ("it started like this", "a good month later", "Sunday") and uncovering some genuine acting talent, Paris, 13th District is a wonderful film blending together a great variety of themes (under the discreet auspices of Jean-Jacques Rousseau) and painting a picture of our modern-day world by way of a delicate, relaxed and often funny storytelling style (which is new to Jacques Audiard’s particular brand of cinema, too). By venturing outside of his comfort zone and by opening himself up on all levels (in terms of writing, cast, genre, style, and the music composed by Rone), the filmmaker successfully reinvents himself, capturing the vibes of the present and offering up (among other things) a key to help overcome complexities, conflict and sadness: "when you’re afraid or in pain, focus your mind on someone you love and your fear or your pain will subside." It’s a key which opens the door to discussion, to questioning ourselves, and to the (collective) future which is currently being written.

Paris, 13th District is produced by Page 114, and co-produced by France 2 Cinéma. International sales are entrusted to Playtime.

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(Translated from French)

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