Elias Belkeddar's first feature film, Omar la Fraise, was screened in Official Selection Out of Competition during a Midnight Screening at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. This comedy about a gangster duo in Algiers stars Reda Kateb, Benoît Magimel and Meriem Amiar, and will be broadcast on television this Thursday, December 21, at 9:10pm on Canal+.
Omar la Fraise tells the story of Omar, an old-fashioned bandit nicknamed "Omar la Fraise". Forced into hiding in Algeria, he survives on small-time schemes, always accompanied by his faithful accomplice, Roger. Having once dominated the French bandit scene for decades, the two acolytes must now come to terms with their new existence, far removed from the debauchery and violence that marked their past.
These two gangsters with their unmistakable looks make quite a pair. It's clear that director Elias Belkeddar has enjoyed his first film! A comedy with beautiful action scenes, violence and sumptuous natural scenery in the heart of Algiers, that's not trivial! And we have a lot of fun with these poor man's Scarface characters.
But above all, it's the two actors who impress. We may have known Magimel and Kateb for years, but we've never seen them like this! The former gives his all in self-mockery, while the latter plays a raving gangster who has to keep a low profile to avoid prison. Humor is omnipresent, even in the protagonist's nickname. This "Omar la Fraise" may be the embodiment of terror in Algiers, but you can't help but feel hilarious at the mere mention of him, just as you do at the stories behind him, which are always different.
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