13 m² (2007)
Directed by Barthélémy Grossmann

Film Review

13m² is the latest in a seemingly endless series of films over the past decade or so to thrust into our faces stark visions of the ugly urban underbelly of French society, reminding us that, despite numerous political initiatives, things are not getting better for those at the bottom of the heap.  It has been well over a decade since Mathieu Kassovitz woke us all up to the escalating problems of social exclusion and racial tensions in inner cities with his startling film La Haine (1995), but these problems haven't gone away and seem only to have worsened - or so the latest generation of hot-headed young filmmakers will have us believe.

The hot-headed youngster behind this latest grim portrait of social deprivation and urban crime is Barthélémy Grossmann, who not only directs the film but also plays the leading role.  In what is his debut film, Grossmann shows immense promise both as a director and an actor, and succeeds admirably in getting across to his audience the bleakness of the lives of those unfortunates who have become, through no fault of their own, vermin that live off the putrid dregs of a soulless capitalist system. For some of these unfortunates, crime isn't a choice, it is necessary for survival.

The film has one or two inspired touches (such as the idea of letting us hear but not see the brutal robbery) but equally there are some careless artistic over-indulgences that cause you to grind your teeth in frustration (the over-use of fancy camera effects such as the fast zoom being a case in point).  13m² is by no means perfect but it does provide a sobering reflection on the corrupting influence of money, as well as a reminder of the deeply fractured society that raw capitalism and countless failed government policies have brought into being.

Film Synopsis

Living in the rough suburbs of present-day Paris, José, Farouk and Réza are three wild young men who find life hard and increasingly precarious. To survive, they allow themselves to be drawn deeper and deeper into crime. Their most desperate act so far is to attack an armoured van and steal the cash it contains. Unfortunately, the robbery does no go quite as planned and the three friends are soon holed up in their tiny hide-out. There plan is to remain here until things have cooled down a bit. It isn't long before their self-inflicted imprisonment begins to have an effect on them. Their real enemy is not the police. It is themselves...