5 good reasons to watch "The Rascals" by Jimmy Laporal - Trésor

I have good news. Season 3 of Karukerament will be back soon. Subscribe to the newsletter to know when the podcast will be back. In the meantime, I'm back to talk about the movie "Les Rascals" by Jimmy Laporal-Trésor. It will be released in France in January 2023 but it has already started the festival circuit. I attended the preview on October 27th. Here’s a synopsis.

France, 1984. The suburbs have become the territory of the Republic's undesirables: the immigrants. The Rascals, a band of young people, love life and intend to enjoy it. They head for Paris. The only problem: the heart of the capital sees the emergence of a new species of skinheads, the Boneheads, organized, politicized, ultra-violent and determined to take over the city. This is the beginning of the war against the skins. And for the Rascals, the end of innocence.

I ain’t going to comment on this synopsis because it ain’t an episode of Karukerament. Let the record show that there are several synopses circulating at the moment. I chose the one that seems most relevant to my interpretation of the film. 

In 2021, I saw The Black Soldier at the Court Derrière festival in Reunion island. All the hype you hear is deserved. If even I, who always find something to criticize, don't niptick, it's because the film is really that good. But it's still a short film. We were already talking about the film "The Rascals" when I saw it. It has already been screened twice in Guadeloupe and likewise, I have only heard good feedback so I was eager to go and see it. And if I’m here today, it's because you can imagine that I liked it. Let's go for the 5 good reasons to see "Les Rascals".

Reason number one. The need to support. Since I started blogging in 2016, I’ve always kept the same editorial line. When a director from Guadeloupe or Martinique manages to make a feature film and get a theatrical distribution, you don't have to think twice. You go see the film in theaters at least once. Honestly, I haven't seen a French film in theaters in the last ten years. The only exceptions have been The Caribbean Gang, ZÉPON and now The Rascals. When French cinema will show enough inclusiveness to provide different films that are NOT caricatures, then we can afford to say "well, the story, the genre, it's not really my thing." When there's a film that helps move in that direction of inclusion, we have to support it. By the way, I should point out that what I'm saying applies to all films featuring people from “les Outremers”. We're in this together. 

Reason number two. It's a beautiful film. I mean it's really nice to look at. The poster reflects the dark but bright 80's atmosphere. When you see the hairstyles, and the outfits, you might think it's corny. But not at all. With a budget of 2 million 700 thousands euros, it’s incredible to have succeeded in recreating a realistic atmosphere. In fact, this is a comment that came up a lot in the discussion with the director and the film crew after the screening. The spectators who were teenagers back then were able to go back in their memories. That's the magic of cinema. Which brings me to the third reason.

Reason 3. The direction of Jimmy Laporal-Trésor. I find his directing style frontal without being aggressive. Everything is clear, sharp, and precise. This doesn’t prevent him from leaving things to the imagination to let the viewer imagine what happens in the ellipses or off-screen. The pacing becomes more and more oppressive, and it’s obvious that some scenes are made to make you feel uncomfortable, but it’s done in a way that makes you wonder about the motivations of the characters, about the situation of the time and not just reject it altogether and say "no, I don't like it". So we move to reason 4.  

Reason 4. The story. This film isn’t meant to be educational. Since it hasn't been released yet, we don't know how it will be received by the mainstream public, but I think it's the kind of film that can be shown in middle and high school history classes. It's about a time when the problems we have today with racism, the normalized right-wing ideas, are taking root. At the same time, the film is based on values such as friendship, fraternity, and different communities living together. It shows the cultural diversity of France. This brings me to the fifth and final reason to see "Les Rascals".

Reason 5. The film humanizes the visible minorities of France, represented here by teenage characters who, of course, can be violent, but above all, they want to have fun and live their youth like everyone else. They are innocents. We hear their worries, their doubts, their fears, and already the lack of hope to find their place one day in a society that rejects them. I take this opportunity to salute the performance of the actors. Especially that of Jonathan Feltre. I saw him in The Black Soldier first where I think he is excellent, but here it took me a few minutes to recognize him because his interpretation of Rudy was so different. It was as if he was transformed. And after the screening, he passed by me and I still had the impression to see someone else so much he gave off a luminous sweetness. I don’t know how else to put it. Just sweetness. I hope that he’ll have the opportunity to have roles to allow him to express all the facets of his talent. And also, one last thing about the actors. Can we talk about Mark Grosy? Well, not here because I have to wrap up the episode. But we have to talk about him. The epitome of charisma. And his voice? No, really. When I think of all those actors and actresses in their fifties and more who would be excellent in a lead role... Well, okay, since I'm on the subject.

I'm giving you a true bonus reason to go see "The Rascals". This is especially for the Caribbean community. Since the beginning of Karukerament, I’ve been paying attention to the representation of life in France. There is a real misunderstanding of what life here and life there represents. And voluntarily, I won’t specify what I mean by “here” and “there”. Jimmy Laporal-Trésor isn’t afraid to show his Caribbean identity. Of course, he can do it in a frontal way as with a scene entirely in Creole outside a family setting. And Cyril of l'A-peu-près 20h media asked him if he had a fear that the mainstream audience would reject it. Jimmy Laporal-Trésor laughed and said "no". He is for everyone to put forward their culture, their roots. But, in reality, he mentions his Caribbean identity in almost every scene. If it's not in the dialogue, it's in the characterization of the characters by attaching them to a political event that marked the Caribbean community. No spoiler, especially since he prefers not to talk about this element. If it isn’t in the story, it’s through the music. For example, I discovered the band Delgres, which plays blues in Creole. If it's not the music, it's the decorations, the clothes, and the accessories like a Guadeloupe-shaped pendant. I will talk more about this in my written review because if we approach the film from a Karukerament point of view, there is also a lot to say... But this is not the point here and I’ll stop here before people think that it’s a  Black community film. It is absolutely not. Regardless of how you define Black community. 

French films centered on a group of teenage friends. There have already been some. About young people from the suburbs. There have been some before, but I think "Les Rascals" stands out because it's a French film that talks about France in its diversity without hiding the problems. It doesn't just focus on the youth or just on the problems to the point where the characters would seem to exist only to show these problems.

For me, Jimmy Laporal-Tresor succeeds in what Stefon Bristol did with See You Yesterday in 2019. He used his identity and background to tell a universal story. He takes a sensitive theme and tells it on an individual and emotional level. In See You Yesterday, it was the issue of police violence. In The Rascals, it's about the rise of racism, but we see above all the psychological repercussions and how the characters manage to continue living. The viewer experiences every possible emotion with them. Joy, sadness, fear, frustration, doubt, disappointment, anger but also hope.