Le Grand Voyage a film by Ismaël Ferroukhi
As part of a series of six films chosen and shown by students over the next six weeks, I saw Le Grand Voyage a film by Ismaël Ferroukhi on Monday night.
I’ll start by saying that I was very impressed.
Plot Outline: Reda, a young French-Moroccan guy and his old father drive from the south of France to Mecca in order for the father to do his pilgrimage. At first distant, they gradually learn to know each other.
Taken from IMDB: Le Grand Voyage
This film was so engaging because the complexities of the relationship between the father and the son, and the cultural divides they represented, were never dealt with simplistically or glibly. The viewer was allowed to bring their own interpretation to the relationship, it’s difficulties and differences. This was reinforced by the way that a lot of the action was only hinted at: After demanding meat, Reda’s father has the car stopped near a group of settlers and tells Reda to bring his (brothers) camera. Cut to the next scene - there is a sheep in the back of the car.
In this way there was an efficiency to the editing that left more room for the narrative whilst never artificially pushing the pace or forcing the film on (time was made for panoramas that enhanced our understanding of the nature of journeying). This seems to be an antithesis to the Hollywood form where motives are clearly explained, actions made explicit and we are emotionally polarised into loving ‘the good guy’.
I’m interested in this following our time in India; it can be so easy to be reductive about people, relationships and cultures but we’re not designed to take on board such complexities. Instead I think we simplify things to make them safe and manageable, sometimes even to save ourselves the profound emotional cost of letting in experiences in a raw, unmediated form. I am presuming that for Ferroukhi this film was semi-autobiographical so the ability (or desire) to create distance may not have been an option. The result is a film that represented the complexities of relationship and culture in a way that was intimate, touching and without any clichés. A film well worth watching (again)
Couple ‘o links after the break
Technorati Tags: film
- IMDB: Le Grand Voyage
- YouTUBE: Le Grand Voyage trailer (Recommended viewing!!)
- New York Times review
- Amazon