Film

A la Place du Coeur (1998)

Director: Robert Guédiguian

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Ever since childhood, Clim (Raoust) and Bébé (Ogou) have been in love. Indeed, such is their suitability that her parents (Ascaride and Darroussin) and his dad (Meylan) soon put aside any doubts about the couple's decision to marry so young. The only objection comes from the boy's strictly religious mother and sister, whose antipathy to the relationship intensifies when he's arrested and imprisoned for raping a woman. The others suspect he was framed by a racist cop - Bébé and his sister, who were adopted as kids, are black - and Clim determines to prove his innocence before she gives birth to their baby. But legal representation is expensive and money short. Guédiguian's gem of tender drama transposes a James Baldwin novel from New York to modern Marseilles. Specifically, the multicultural working class area of Estaque, where the director typically explores how friendship, familial support and a sense of communal purpose can alleviate and even overcome everyday social injustice. Once again, he draws warm, naturalistic performances from a cast largely made up of his wife and friends.

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