Les Innocents (film)
Encyclopedia
Les Innocents is a 1987 French drama film directed by André Téchiné
, starring Sandrine Bonnaire
, Simon de La Brosse and Abdel Kechiche
. The plot, follows a girl who looking for her runaway brother, finds several people who change her life. The film was partially inspired by a William Faulkner
's novel. It was nominated to four César Awards: Best Film; Best Director; Best original music and won Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Jean-Claude Brialy).
Jeanne first lead in looking for her brother is the struggling orchestra conductor Klotz, a bisexual older man who knows Saïd and is indeed infatuated with Saïd. When Jeanne visits Klotz's luxurious beach side villa she meets Klot'z son Stéphane, who is recovering from a coma. She also meets Stéphane's overbearing mother Myrian.
When Jeanne finds Alain, she moves into the modest hotel he shares with Saïd, which is run by a repatriated Pied-Noir
from Algeria
. At the same time Jeanne stars a relationship with Stéphane, but there is a secret link between Stéphane and Saïd.
Saïd takes Jeanne to see a burns victim and reveals her that Stéphane had been part of a far right racist gang which had set fire to an immigrant hostel, and he had later been stabbed in revenge by Saïd.
During a brief stay in Algeria, Saïd telephones Stéphane to tell him of the night he spends with Jeanne, and this motivates Stéphane to denounce Saïd to the racist gang. However, Stéphane catches up with Said and warns him not to go back to the hotel, but Saïd drags Stéphane with him and they are both shot dead. The film ends with Jeanne staring at the two bodies.
André Téchiné
André Téchiné , is a French screenwriter and film director. He has had a long and distinguished career that places him among the best post-New Wave French film directors....
, starring Sandrine Bonnaire
Sandrine Bonnaire
Sandrine Bonnaire is a French actress, who has appeared in more than 40 films including Hollywood movies.Bonnaire was born in the town of Gannat, Allier, in the Auvergne region. She was born into a working-class family, the seventh of eleven children. Her acting career began at the age of 16 in...
, Simon de La Brosse and Abdel Kechiche
Abdel Kechiche
Abdellatif Kechiche is an actor, movie director and screenwriter. He made his directorial debut in 2000 with La Faute à Voltaire , aka Poetical Refugee, which he also wrote. He also directed L'Esquive, which won a César Award for Best Film and Best Director...
. The plot, follows a girl who looking for her runaway brother, finds several people who change her life. The film was partially inspired by a William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
's novel. It was nominated to four César Awards: Best Film; Best Director; Best original music and won Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Jean-Claude Brialy).
Plot
Jeanne, a young woman born and raised in Northern France, is visiting the Mediterranean for the first time. She arrives at the southern French seaport of Toulon to attend the wedding of her older sister Maïté to Nourredine, a north African. However her main goal is to take back with her her deaf-mute younger brother Alain, with whom she had been living following the death of their parents. Alain, however, has disappeared. In love, he run away with Saïd, a French man of Algerian descend, who had approached Jeanne on her arrival in the city. Alain supports himself as a pickpocket under the tutelage of Saïd. Jeanne has to locate her brother.Jeanne first lead in looking for her brother is the struggling orchestra conductor Klotz, a bisexual older man who knows Saïd and is indeed infatuated with Saïd. When Jeanne visits Klotz's luxurious beach side villa she meets Klot'z son Stéphane, who is recovering from a coma. She also meets Stéphane's overbearing mother Myrian.
When Jeanne finds Alain, she moves into the modest hotel he shares with Saïd, which is run by a repatriated Pied-Noir
Pied-noir
Pied-Noir , plural Pieds-Noirs, pronounced , is a term referring to French citizens of various origins who lived in French Algeria before independence....
from Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
. At the same time Jeanne stars a relationship with Stéphane, but there is a secret link between Stéphane and Saïd.
Saïd takes Jeanne to see a burns victim and reveals her that Stéphane had been part of a far right racist gang which had set fire to an immigrant hostel, and he had later been stabbed in revenge by Saïd.
During a brief stay in Algeria, Saïd telephones Stéphane to tell him of the night he spends with Jeanne, and this motivates Stéphane to denounce Saïd to the racist gang. However, Stéphane catches up with Said and warns him not to go back to the hotel, but Saïd drags Stéphane with him and they are both shot dead. The film ends with Jeanne staring at the two bodies.
Cast
- Sandrine BonnaireSandrine BonnaireSandrine Bonnaire is a French actress, who has appeared in more than 40 films including Hollywood movies.Bonnaire was born in the town of Gannat, Allier, in the Auvergne region. She was born into a working-class family, the seventh of eleven children. Her acting career began at the age of 16 in...
as Jeanne - Simon de La Brosse as Stéphane
- Abdel Kechiche as Saïd
- Jean-Claude BrialyJean-Claude BrialyJean-Claude Brialy – died 30 May 2007, Monthyon, Seine-et-Marne, France was a French actor, director, and socialite.-Biography:...
as Klotz - Tanya Lopert as Mme Klotz
- Marthe VillalongaMarthe VillalongaMarthe Villalonga , is a French actress. She has appeared in 93 films between 1963 and 2008.She was born in Fort-de-l'Eau, Algeria.-External links:...
as Hotel's owner - Jacques NolotJacques NolotJacques Nolot , is a French actor, screenwriter and film director.- Life :Jacques Nolot was born on 31 August 1943, Marciac, Gers, a small village in Southwest France. A fragile child, Nolot was doted upon by his mother, a woman who had three children with three different fathers...
as doctor - Marie-France as singer
- Christine Paolini as Maïté
Analysis
The lines between love, sex, and politics become hopelessly blurred in this French drama. Jeanne finds herself torn between the two men a French and a North African in a romantic and sexual dilemma that mirrors France's political turmoil regarding the nation's growing Arab population.Accolades
It was nominated to four César Awards: Best Film; Best Director; Best original music and Jean-Claude Brialy's performance in this film earned him a Best Supporting Actor award from the French Academy of Cinema.- Krimo Bouguetof - Noureddine