Ils sont partout (They Are Everywhere)
With controversial elections, new fortified wall proposals, and devastating attacks seeming to occur more and more every day, it's hard to even hope for a less divided world, when what we should be seeing growth in is acceptance.
In They Are Everywhere (Ils sont partout, 2016), César award-winning actor and director Yvan Attal expresses his take on anti-semitism, as well as his general malaise of being Jewish in a country with a strong sense of cultural pride. The Israeli-born Attal explores the question of what it means to be Jewish, and plays with Jewish stereotypes through anti-semite eyes.
The self reflexive film is comprised of a few different vignettes that feature different perspectives of the Jewish image today, amidst intolerance and friendly faces crop up, conjuring up quite a flavorful dish across the screen. Attal himself plays a man supposedly obsessed with being Jewish, serving as a narrative for any minority who is looked at as being "whiny" or "over-sensitive".
Dany Boon, the master of bumbling buffoon characters, offers a lot of lightness and comedic discomfort as Pascal, who doesn't understand the point of being Jewish once he realizes he's not rich enough. The compelling actress and long-time romantic partner of Attal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, joins him as Mathilde, his hilariously tacky wife, a far cry from her intense past performances you may remember from Nymphomaniac and AntiChrist.
And of course, there's Benoît Poelvoorde, fascinating as always to watch, who plays Boris, the wife of a major conservative politician in France.
Offering a unique viewpoint on what it means to be marginalized today, the film adds both relevance and importance to your Friday night.
