The Story of Souleymaneit’s the film that everyone was waiting for… or not. Boris Lojkine’s feature film, which describes the 48 hours preceding the main character’s hearing at the OFPRA (French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons) as part of his asylum application, is hardly appealing.
However, all the ingredients were there for success: a nice Guinean – played by Abou Sangare, an illegal under OQTF in real life, hardworking, who covers kilometers by bike to deliver his orders and help the elderly -, police officers moderately nice, awards at the Cannes festival, a very strong promotional campaign and rave reviews.
“Touched by grace”…
For France info, the film is a thriller “ powerful and breathtaking » while it is a “ time trial without complacency » and a “ extreme intensity » for Three colors or a “ sober, tense and perfectly embodied story » for Slate. For the JDD« Sangare bursts the screen » , pour Teleramahe is ” touched by grace » and for The Worldhe is ” dazzling “. You will have understood, it is about “ film that shook up the Cannes festival ”, as shown in the trailer. And for good reason, as it is said so well L’Express, The Story of Souleymane is a “ painful illustration of social domination “. Better, for Huffpost, this story “ resonates more than ever with reality “. Is it useful to clarify this? Terribly self-righteous, the film glorifies immigration.
With all these wonderful comments, the thriller should be able to compete with the blockbusters but, against all expectations, when it was released this Wednesday, October 9, it only convinced… eleven thousand seven hundred and fifty spectators to go to rooms, an average of twenty people per session. Everyone had free seats and room to put their jacket next to them.
For comparison, Le Comte de Monte Cristo by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière brought together one hundred and twenty-five thousand spectators on the first day of its broadcast when A little something extra d’Artus seduced two hundred and seventy-five thousand. After twelve and twenty weeks on screen respectively, these two feature films still accumulated 141,500 admissions for one and 29,000 admissions for the other last week, between October 2 and 9.
A subject that is no longer popular
Far ahead The Story of Souleymane whose sluggish start does not bode well because few films achieve commercial success after a failed launch. Bad starts are often accompanied by deprogramming, which pushes these feature films a little further down in the box office rankings. It is a safe bet that the film directed by Abou Sangare will meet this sad fate.
The contrast is stark between the plebiscite of film critics and the rejection of the public. It seems that immigration and living together are no longer successful, that the French have had enough of being taught lessons.
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