Loin (film)
Encyclopedia
Loin is a 2001 French-Spanish drama film directed by André Téchiné
, starring Stephane Rideau
, Lubna Azabal
and Mohamed Hamaidi. The film, set in Tangier
in a three day period, tells the story of three young friends taking critical decisions about their uncertain future.
, ready to make his next trip to Africa, Serge succumbs to the criminal subculture, dangerously agreeing to smuggle hashish from Morocco to Europe hiding the illegal drugs in his truck.
This time, the Moroccan stopover between transports of cargoes will last three days. In Tangier, while he waits for his truck to be loaded and pass customs, Serge is reunited with his friend Saïd. Saïd, a young Moroccan whose only possession is his bicycle, desperately seeks to escape his restricted background and avidly longs for the possibility and intrigue of life beyond Africa, but he has attempted his illegal immigration many times before with dire consequences. Serge who is eager to see his on and off girlfriend Sarah, Saïd’s friend and employer, strikes a deal with Saïd. If Saïd can convince Sarah to see him again, Serge promises to smuggle Saïd to Europe.
Saïd takes Serge to see his and Sara’s friends: Jack, a gay American émigré living happily in Morocco, and Francois, a young film director preparing a documentary on illegal immigration. Francois and Serge went to the same school eight years ago. Saïd entices Sarah, to go out that night in order to prepare and encounter with Serge. When she first see him again she runs away, but ultimately she yields and they get back together. Sarah, a beautiful, independent young Jewish woman mourning her recently dead mother operates a small hotel, where Saïd works. She is in a disjunctive of her own. Her successful brother, a Canadian émigré, wants her to leave Morocco and join him in Montreal. She agonizes over the decision, unsure about emigrating. Serge's return and their complicated relationship just make harder to make a decision. Emily, Sarah’s sister in law, a writer who recently has lost a son, arrives to help her close the hotel and resettle in Canada. The closing of the hotel leaves Saïd without a job and intensifies his need to try to pass to Europe. However, Serge backs off with his part of the plan to take Saïd in his truck to Spain. Angry, Saïd breaks his friendship with Serge and tries to indispose Sarah against Serge.
With money that Sarah gives Saïd for the lost of his job, he goes to a seedy neighborhood with Francois, who is attracted to Saïd, but trying to changed the local currency to pesetas, he is robbed and loses his bicycle in the process.
In contras to Sarah and Saïd their friend Farida, an independent optician who has recently divorce her husband, is very attach to Morocco and would never consider emigrating. The group of friends have a picnic during which Farida has to be rushed to the hospital to give birth. The party of friends invited, by Francois goes to see Jean Renoir
’s The River
. At the end Serge ends empty handed neither he gets any money from his attempt at smuggling drugs nor he has certain in his relationship with Sarah who still can make out her mind of either leaving or staying in Tanger. Saïd, has little to lose and goes to the port and hides beneath Serge’s truck. He is found by Serge who sneaks him inside the truck’s cabin. Together they are on the road to Europe.
using primarily natural light. The slightly patchy video image contributes to the sense of collapse and unease. The film is set in Tangier and is told in three "movements"; the sections marked by chapters. Téchiné renders the confusion and desperation occasioned by the three leads personal dilemmas into a larger canvas of cultural dislocation, identity and friendship.
In moving between the stories of his three principal actors, Téchiné establishes both an emotional immediacy and painful confusion that captures the intensity of feeling between them, addressing some of the director's trademark themes: family relations, irreconcilable sexual entanglements and the allure of criminal activity. Téchiné, examines the relationships between these three very independent twenty something, showing how their various desires in life conflict because of citizenship, employment, class differences, as well as personal outlook
The film generally concerns Moroccans with various relationships with the country: visiting staying, leaving and contemplating. Techiné's captures the complexity of the emotions that join his star-crossed lovers. He balances their love story against the serious backdrop of smuggling and immigration.
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 Stephane Rideau
Stéphane Rideau
Stéphane Rideau is a French actor born near Agen. Although intending to pursue a career in sports, he was discovered in 1992 at a rugby game and then auditioned for a role in the film Wild Reeds by André Téchiné. He was, at the time, sixteen years old.He would later on play the role of a gay...
, Lubna Azabal
Lubna Azabal
Lubna Azabal is a Belgian actress, born in Brussels to a Moroccan father and a Spanish mother. After studing at the Conservatoire royal of Brussels, she began a theatrical career in Belgium. In 1997, she took her first film role when Belgian film-maker Vincent Lannoo chose her to act beside Olivier...
and Mohamed Hamaidi. The film, set in Tangier
Tangier
Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
in a three day period, tells the story of three young friends taking critical decisions about their uncertain future.
Plot
For the past few years, Serge, a young French man, has been working as a long distance truck driver, employed by a company that ships goods from Morocco to Europe. It is a demanding job that gives him plenty of time for reflection and boredom. In AlgecirasAlgeciras
Algeciras is a port city in the south of Spain, and is the largest city on the Bay of Gibraltar . Port of Algeciras is one of the largest ports in Europe and in the world in three categories: container,...
, ready to make his next trip to Africa, Serge succumbs to the criminal subculture, dangerously agreeing to smuggle hashish from Morocco to Europe hiding the illegal drugs in his truck.
This time, the Moroccan stopover between transports of cargoes will last three days. In Tangier, while he waits for his truck to be loaded and pass customs, Serge is reunited with his friend Saïd. Saïd, a young Moroccan whose only possession is his bicycle, desperately seeks to escape his restricted background and avidly longs for the possibility and intrigue of life beyond Africa, but he has attempted his illegal immigration many times before with dire consequences. Serge who is eager to see his on and off girlfriend Sarah, Saïd’s friend and employer, strikes a deal with Saïd. If Saïd can convince Sarah to see him again, Serge promises to smuggle Saïd to Europe.
Saïd takes Serge to see his and Sara’s friends: Jack, a gay American émigré living happily in Morocco, and Francois, a young film director preparing a documentary on illegal immigration. Francois and Serge went to the same school eight years ago. Saïd entices Sarah, to go out that night in order to prepare and encounter with Serge. When she first see him again she runs away, but ultimately she yields and they get back together. Sarah, a beautiful, independent young Jewish woman mourning her recently dead mother operates a small hotel, where Saïd works. She is in a disjunctive of her own. Her successful brother, a Canadian émigré, wants her to leave Morocco and join him in Montreal. She agonizes over the decision, unsure about emigrating. Serge's return and their complicated relationship just make harder to make a decision. Emily, Sarah’s sister in law, a writer who recently has lost a son, arrives to help her close the hotel and resettle in Canada. The closing of the hotel leaves Saïd without a job and intensifies his need to try to pass to Europe. However, Serge backs off with his part of the plan to take Saïd in his truck to Spain. Angry, Saïd breaks his friendship with Serge and tries to indispose Sarah against Serge.
With money that Sarah gives Saïd for the lost of his job, he goes to a seedy neighborhood with Francois, who is attracted to Saïd, but trying to changed the local currency to pesetas, he is robbed and loses his bicycle in the process.
In contras to Sarah and Saïd their friend Farida, an independent optician who has recently divorce her husband, is very attach to Morocco and would never consider emigrating. The group of friends have a picnic during which Farida has to be rushed to the hospital to give birth. The party of friends invited, by Francois goes to see Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s...
’s The River
The River (1951 film)
The River is a 1951 film directed by Jean Renoir. It was filmed in India and was seminal to the launching of the careers of Satyajit Ray , who assisted on the film, and Subrata Mitra, Ray's cinematographer whom he met during the filming of The River.A fairly faithful dramatization of an earlier...
. At the end Serge ends empty handed neither he gets any money from his attempt at smuggling drugs nor he has certain in his relationship with Sarah who still can make out her mind of either leaving or staying in Tanger. Saïd, has little to lose and goes to the port and hides beneath Serge’s truck. He is found by Serge who sneaks him inside the truck’s cabin. Together they are on the road to Europe.
Cast
- Stephane RideauStéphane RideauStéphane Rideau is a French actor born near Agen. Although intending to pursue a career in sports, he was discovered in 1992 at a rugby game and then auditioned for a role in the film Wild Reeds by André Téchiné. He was, at the time, sixteen years old.He would later on play the role of a gay...
as Serge - Lubna AzabalLubna AzabalLubna Azabal is a Belgian actress, born in Brussels to a Moroccan father and a Spanish mother. After studing at the Conservatoire royal of Brussels, she began a theatrical career in Belgium. In 1997, she took her first film role when Belgian film-maker Vincent Lannoo chose her to act beside Olivier...
as Sara - Mohamed Hamaidi as Saïd
- Gaël MorelGaël MorelGaël Morel is a French film director, screenwriter and actor.- Biography :Morel was born in Villefranche-sur-Saône, Rhône, France, a small town of 30,000 inhabitants outside Lyon...
as François - Jack TaylorJack Taylor (actor)Jack Taylor is an American actor. He first relocated to Mexico in the late 1950s/early 1960s, and later to Spain, where he has appeared in many films, mostly horror and cheesy exploitation pictures...
as James - Yasmina RezaYasmina RezaYasmina Reza is a French playwright, actress, novelist and screenwriter. Her parents were both of Jewish origin, her father Iranian, her mother Hungarian.-Career:...
as Emily - Rachida BrakniRachida BrakniRachida Brakni is a French actress of Algerian origin. She is married to the football hero turned film actor Eric Cantona, whom she met on the filmset of Outremangeur in 2002....
as Nezha - Nabila Baraka as Farida
Analysis
Loin was shot on digital videoDigital video
Digital video is a type of digital recording system that works by using a digital rather than an analog video signal.The terms camera, video camera, and camcorder are used interchangeably in this article.- History :...
using primarily natural light. The slightly patchy video image contributes to the sense of collapse and unease. The film is set in Tangier and is told in three "movements"; the sections marked by chapters. Téchiné renders the confusion and desperation occasioned by the three leads personal dilemmas into a larger canvas of cultural dislocation, identity and friendship.
In moving between the stories of his three principal actors, Téchiné establishes both an emotional immediacy and painful confusion that captures the intensity of feeling between them, addressing some of the director's trademark themes: family relations, irreconcilable sexual entanglements and the allure of criminal activity. Téchiné, examines the relationships between these three very independent twenty something, showing how their various desires in life conflict because of citizenship, employment, class differences, as well as personal outlook
The film generally concerns Moroccans with various relationships with the country: visiting staying, leaving and contemplating. Techiné's captures the complexity of the emotions that join his star-crossed lovers. He balances their love story against the serious backdrop of smuggling and immigration.