The film opens with a very funny casting scene for Olivier Marchal's next film. Mathieu(Thomas Lemoine), an ambitious but far from talented young actor, is struggling to complete his demo tape on time. His buddy Ousmane(Gaël Tavares), an old-fashioned beatmaker who has given up bullshit after being "incarcerated for trifles", offers him the chance to star in his rap video.
This "dinguerie d'histoire vraie" is the theme of La Gardav, the first feature film by Thomas and Dimitri Lemoine. But of course, nothing goes according to plan. Disguised for the clip as a fake policeman, Mathieu and his "good head of condé" are arrested by the BAC. An imbroglio of saddlebags led him straight into police custody, in the jails of the 20th arrondissement police station in Paris.
While La Gardav offers some real laughs with its resolutely contemporary punchlines, its deliberately caricatured characters (Mathieu calls himself a "professional comedian" to anyone who will listen, brandishing his Allociné card like a totem of immunity) and its bizarre situations, the initial idea runs out of steam after the first hour, and we can't help but think that this merry circus could have fitted perfectly into a medium-length film.
But this freedom of tone succeeds in undermining systemic racism, with an offbeat but fair analysis of police/youth relations that never lapses into maudlin populism or preachiness.
Cinema: which film to see today, this Monday February 3, 2025?
Not sure which film to see today? Well, we've got plenty of films to show near you. [Read more]
Cinema: which film to see today, this Monday February 3, 2025?
