A better life
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | A better life |
| Original title | Une vie meilleure |
| Country of production | France |
| original language |
French English |
| Publishing year | 2011 |
| length | 110 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Cédric Kahn |
| script |
Catherine Paillé Cédric Kahn |
| production |
Kristina Larsen Gilles Sandoz |
| music | Kim Gaboury |
| camera | Pascal Marti |
| cut | Simon Jacquet |
| occupation | |
| |
A Better Life is a 2011 French drama directed by Cédric Kahn .
action
While looking for a managerial position as head of a restaurant, Yann, a cook in a school canteen, meets the waitress Nadia. Nadia is from Lebanon and has an almost ten year old son, Slimane. Soon the three of them will be living together as a small family. During a trip to the lake, Yann finds a house for sale that he wants to convert into a restaurant. Although he and Nadia have no equity, they take out a loan of 200,000 euros from the bank. They make the required down payment of 40,000 euros via revolving consumer loans without the bank knowing anything about it. The building commission does not, however, accept the finished restaurant because there are no fire doors. The additional rework would cost 20,000 euros - money that Yann and Nadia don't have. They also do not receive a bridging loan because they already have debts, which are further increased by the consumer credit. Yann doesn't want to sell the property because he doesn't want to give up his dream of having his own restaurant. There is more and more argument with Nadia because she wants to take a job in Montreal for which she is paid better than in Paris. After a violent argument, Nadia moves out with Slimane.
Some time later, Nadia meets with Yann. She is going to Montreal in three weeks and asks Yann to keep Slimane with her for a month until she has her own apartment in Canada. Yann agrees. Nadia reports from Canada at the beginning, but Slimane's subsequent journey is delayed again and again because Nadia changes her job. After all, there is no feedback at all. Yann's financial situation deteriorated more and more in the following months. In order to receive money, he leases the restaurant and moves into a demolished house that is operated illegally by the rent usurer Marc. Yann tries again and again to get money, but fails. In the end, he steals food from the school canteen and sells it to the tenants of his house. Because Yann and Slimane spent several days outside Paris, the school authorities became aware of Slimane's situation. A social worker announces that she will hand his case over to the youth welfare office, as Yann is not Slimane's guardian. Nadia has been in Canada for eight months now without Yann hearing from her. He starts investigating because his mail is forwarded to Nadia via a certain Consuela Marquez. Officially, there is no woman with this name.
To get out of debt, Yann sells the restaurant. However, the sum does not cover his debts, which amount to more than 80,000 euros. Since he is liable for the sum himself, his salary will be attached from next month. Yann makes a decision: he beats up Marc during the rent payments and steals the income from him. With Slimane he flees to Orly Airport and flies to Canada. There he seeks Consuela Marquez, who finally reveals Nadia's whereabouts to him: Nadia was working as a drug smuggler without knowing it, was arrested for it and has since been in a remote prison. At a first meeting, Yann promises her to fight for her release. He gets a job as a cook in town. On the next visit to the prison, Slimane is allowed to see Nadia, who takes him in her arms.
production
A better life is loosely based on the novel Pour une vie plus douce by Philippe Routier , published in 2009. The filming took place in Saint-Denis and Paris (including Collège Josephine Baker, Orly Airport) and in Canada . Filming locations in Canada were North Bay, Ontario, and Ottawa-Carleton Prison. Natalie Raoul created the costumes and Sabine Delouvrier and Patrick Gilbert created the film sets .
A Better Life was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 13, 2011 and opened in French cinemas on January 4, 2012, where it was seen by around 468,000 people. In Germany, the film was released directly on DVD in September 2013.
Awards
A better life was nominated for the Marc'Aurelio d'Oro for best film at the Festival internazionale del film di Roma. Guillaume Canet was awarded the Marc'Aurelio d'Argento for best actor. The film was shown in competition for the Tokyo Sakura Grand Prix at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2011.
In 2013 Guillaume Canet was nominated for a Prix Lumières in the Best Actor category for A Better Life .
Web links
- A better life in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Certificate of Release for a Better Life . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , June 2013 (PDF; test number: 137 009-a V).
- ↑ See Box Office on allocine.fr