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L'HISTOIRE DE SOULEYMANE

A phenomenal, lived-in performance by Abou Sangare anchors this touching social realist story about an illegal immigrant in Paris, trying to make ends meet by jobbing in the gig economy.



At first sight there’s nothing particularly remarkable about French drama L’Histoire de Souleymane. After all, mixing realist performances with a near-documentary style to tackle social injustices has been the go-to modus operandi from Vittorio De Sica to Ken Loach, the Dardenne brothers and beyond.


Yet done right, as this picture amply proves, the approach still has the power to take you for a ride on an emotional rollercoaster. From the moment the picture’s protagonist, an immigrant from Guinee who borrows a food deliverer’s profile to make an income, appears on screen, you are totally engulfed in the hectic 48 hours that will shape the lead’s future.


A big reason is the exquisite performance of Abou Sangare, a total newcomer to movies, who recently – against formidable, high-profile competition – won the European Film Award for best actor, and deservedly so (he also picked up a gong in Cannes last year). As an audience you never doubt that he lived through the character’s hardship, yet there is also a poetry in his performance that goes beyond mere realism. He is simply magnificent in the role.


Kudos also have to go to director Boris Lojkine: he grounds the story with his close to the skin, fly on the wall approach yet never overdoes the documentary style and cleverly uses sound and lighting, thus making L’Histoire de Souleymane a truly cinematic experience that is best viewed on the big screen.


In any other year the picture would probably have been selected by France as the country’s official Oscar entry, and stood a great chance at winning Best International Film, but in the year of Emilia Pérez that didn’t happen. A shame, because it would have shone a brighter light on a quietly heartbreaking film that deserves to be discovered by as wide an audience as possible.



release: 2024

director: Boris Lojkine

starring: Abou Sangare, Nina Meurisse, Emmanuel Yovanie, Younoussa Diallo

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