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Mort au flick >> Ma 6-T va cracker has a rap sheet by Scott C
Banned in its native France, the film is a brutally honest look into the daily lives of youth coming up in the projects of suburban Paris and the "special relationship" they share with the Police nationale. The line between drama and reality is blurred to perfection, much along the same lines as Harmony Corine's Kids from a few years back, only here different issues are being tackled. The story follows a loosely affiliated gang of Arab, black and Parisian adolescents who vandalize, steal, assault, loiter and shoot the hell out of their enemies, laughing all the while at the intrusive efforts of the police patrolling their neighbourhood. Skirmishes and gunplay between rival gangs are commonplace, fittingly interspersed with the routine pursuit of the opposite sex. Much like the dog in the road though, these youths walk boldly into the path of the big bad police, with understandably dire consequences. The anti-police sentiment in this film borders on hilarious, with all kinds of cinematic allusions to the "establishment machine" and how systematic and callous it can be. However, regardless of how much truth there is to the actions of the Police nationale, the film is decidedly one-sided in its portrayal, perhaps weakening the point it's trying to make, but succeeding in getting itself banned in France. There's enough anger in this movie to spark some ignorant ruckus for sure, not to mention an equally flammable soundtrack featuring some of France's hip hop elite (2Bal and Mystik) taking the revolutionary forefront. Together, the film and its music speak volumes about the attitudes of the youth growing up in and around Paris today, and the extremes that some of them are willing to go to in order to be heard. Stripped down, this is a film about economics and class, about how the government keeps certain people in certain places, and about how unrest is most incendiary in the hands of the young. One show only at the Imperial, Wednesday, June 24, 8pm, followed by the Urban Off-Fest show at Sona, with 2Bal, Mystik and others, at 10pm. Film: $7, $5 with $15 show ticket
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I remember standing on the curb, simultaneously trying to cover both my eyes and my ears as an overzealous beagle wandered triumphantly into the oncoming traffic. The dog didn't know any better, strutting to a fate far beyond canine understanding. The cars were there, doing what cars do; stopping only momentarily to address the mess in the road before continuing on to their destination. While watching Jean-François Richets' Ma 6-T va cracker, I experienced many of the same feelings as the story unfolded in front of me.