Julie Delpy’s French refugee comedy

Actress-turned-filmmaker Julie Delpy has carved out a peculiar niche for herself on both sides of the Atlantic, making eight films in just over two decades. Based in Los Angeles but working primarily in France, with Richard Linklater forward trilogy on the one hand) and Gallic stars like Dany Boon on the other (lolo) On the other hand, switching from drama (countess) to comedy (skylab) and then come back (my zoe), Delpy, like the jaded characters she often plays on screen, is not easy to pin down.

However, her latest work, the refugee satire Meet the savages (barbarian), may be her most explicitly French film to date, and certainly her most political. But it’s also probably her least funny film, laden with cliches and irony in its depiction of a picturesque Breton village that welcomes a Syrian family fleeing the war. The film’s heartfelt pro-immigration message feels welcome in this politically divisive era, and it should perform best at home, being widely distributed in mid-September after closing the Toronto International Film Festival.

Delpy stars as Joel, a left-wing teacher who leads a group of Ukrainian refugees into Paine Point, a quiet rural enclave in the heart of rain-drenched Brittany. The problem is that Ukrainians are already in high demand throughout France, so there aren’t enough of them to bring into town. After Joel resorted to some backdoor tactics, the village decided to bus a Syrian family, which immediately caused an uproar among the more racist citizens.

The latter consists of a handful of cartoon-like locals who are highly paranoid and stupid – like the kind of mean-spirited, country French men and women featured in popular Gallic comedies. Bad weddings in a row or Tush series. Most of the humor in the book Meet the savages Surrounded by their silly antics, it’s not hard to see that the “savages” in the title actually refer to the townspeople themselves, even if that’s how they classify their new Arab neighbors.

Delpy offers a more believable portrait of the refugees, an educated family whose lives have been torn apart by Bashar Assad’s long and violent war. Led by Marwan (Ziad Bakri), an architect who dreams of one day working again, they do everything they can to blend in with the locals, learn the language, take low-paying jobs around town, and remain tolerant amid the much intolerance around them . While images of the French tend to be associated with broad stereotypes – small business owners, xenophobes, adulterers or weak politicians – Syrians are real people.

This discrepancy seems entirely intentional by Delpy, but it doesn’t make for great comedy. Actresses like Sandrine Kiberland usually provide the laughs, but she has a thankless role here as an alcoholic grocer whose husband (Marty Er Deme) has an affair with the town butcher (Emily Gavos-Kahn). (Cue the scene in which Kiberland’s character attacks them with a giant blood sausage.) Laurent Lafitte plays a plumber trying to prevent Syrians from permanently settling in Paine Point, where he There are a few good lines. But his character is so despicable that he becomes another stereotype: the white French working-class racist.

That’s not to say that such people don’t exist in real life; as many people know, France’s far-right National Rally party currently enjoys the majority of support among rural voters. The question is whether these political realities can be mined for laughs, but Delpy seems too intent on proving a point to convert Meet the savages It became a humorous thing.

In fact, the film probably works best when it gets serious and a little sentimental. Scenes between Marwan and the town policeman (Mark Frazier), who sympathize with their love of the French language songthere is a touching feeling. And in a rather predictable finale, the plumber’s wife (Indian hair) is forced to rely on refugee Alma (Rita Hayek), also an experienced doctor, who brings sudden bursts of real emotion .

Despite Delpy’s attempts at broad satire, she ultimately delivers a hopeful film. Of course, this is too preachy and not very believable, but underneath all the typecasting Meet the savageswe hope to show how refugee situations can ultimately benefit both parties. As much as the director enjoys mocking and belittling her fellow Frenchmen, deep down she probably wants them to be the best they can be.