Every day, AlloCiné recommends a film to (re)watch on TV. Tonight: a moving and multi-César-nominated thriller.
Eight years after La French, filmmaker Cédric Jimenez (Bac Nord, In the eyes of all), reunites with Jean Dujardin in a film centered on a terrible true story: the attacks of November 13, 2015.
Released in theaters in 2022, this poignant feature film entitled November is a dive into the heart of Anti-Terrorism during the five days of investigation which followed this night of horror. And to embody the investigators (who existed) on screen, the casting choice fell on Jean Dujardin, Sandrine Kiberlain, Anaïs Demoustier and even Jérémie Renier.
For her part, Lyna Khoudri, a rising star of French cinema, lends her features to Samia, a young woman who denounced the chief operator of the attacks to the police. Impeccable actors for relentless narrative mechanics.
A risky, but successful, tribute film
Before its theatrical release, November by Cédric Jimenez initially divided critics, because many French people were against the idea of staging the attacks of November 13.
But for screenwriter Olivier Demangel, not reconstituting this night of horror on screen (but only off-camera) was obvious, unlike Revoir Paris by Alice Winocour, considered the opposite on this same subject.
This is precisely what convinced Cédric Jimenez who, before reading the angle of the scenario, was nevertheless reluctant to the idea of making a film on the attacks, as he confided in an interview: “I would have found it obscene, truly obscene… If I had read the slightest effect in this sense, I would never have made the film.”
And he did well to listen, because the film was nominated seven times for the César and once at the Cannes Film Festival. That’s not all, AlloCiné Internet users also gave it the honorable average of 4.1 out of 5, which makes it one of the best films with Jean Dujardin (The Artist being even below, with a rating of 4 out of 5).
Among the many most gratifying comments, we can read: “A great, honest, respectful, impactful film, a very beautiful tribute”, “Great actors and powerful film!”, “Great French cinema, all measure and finesse, emotion and modesty”or “Fabulous, poignant, distressing”.
Tonight on France 2 at 9:10 p.m.
