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 L'Esquive
A film by Abdel Kechiche
 For Krimo, a
teenager living in the suburbs of Paris, days go by, carying
the weight of his boredom around the neighbourhood. Until a
few lines from a 19th century play echo in an open field, and
suddenly nothing seems quite the same anymore : Lydia, all
dressed-up in her theatre costume, is rehearsing the school
play. And Krimo falls in love with her. Despite the reputation
Krimo has to sustain, he will accept a role in the play in
order to declare his love. Will he find the right
words?
Starring Osman
Elkharraz, Sara Forestier, Sabrina Ouazani, Hajar Hamlili,
Rachid Hami.
GENRE :
COMEDY/DRAMA
FORMAT: 35 mm / 1.85 / DOLBY SR
LENGTH :
1h57
YEAR : 2003
 Press clippings
Abdellatif Kechiche makes the most of his
camera…
…Ensemble playing is seamless and the roles are
inhabited completely. Per Kechiche, film was fully scripted
and well-rehearsed, which only underlines the skill of the
actors at maintaining authenticity.
…the energy and verve
of the perfs, supplemented by some well-timed laughs, make the
high-octane confrontations seem a bona fide part of the
characters' adolescence.
Pic created buzz at its Berlin
fest screenings and should get its passport ready to
travel.
Russel Edwards,
VARIETY
Game of love and chance in a Paris suburb…A romantic
comedy.
…A phenomenon discussed on op-ed pages of the
dailies..
Joan Dupont,
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
Sweet and delicate portrait of a Parisian proletarian
suburb… Abdellatif Kechiche makes a tactful film, a fresh look
to present youth, far from judgments or moraine.
Kechiche
proves owning the same human touch as Mike Leigh, another
creator of social portraits.
Violeta Kovacsics,
FIPRESCI
The films show clearly the uprooting problems. The
young characters express their feelings and gestures with lot
of energy…
…For the world cinema, the effort to make a
document about a particular culture is appreciable..
Mark Siemons, FRANKFURTER
ALLGEMEINE (Germany)
Kechiche doesn’t produce confrontation of the slang
Arabic like a cultural shock, but as a curious acquisition...
the camera acts and dares as a microscope groping tenderly on
the beauty of a cheek... …a voyage of discovery, for which we
should secure a ticket quickly.
Gerhard Midding, TIP Magazine
(Germany)
A history of suburbs which do not put ahead a
stereotyped ghetto… a complex and fine study of models of
behaviour of group, through the ways of speaking, the sound
and the effect of the words...
Among all the true stories,
it was the best up to now.
Isabella Reicher, DER STANDARD
(Austria)
L’Esquive by Abdellatif Kechiche is an endearing french
take on the Hollywood high school Shakespeare
genre…
Peter Bradshaw, THE
GUARDIAN (UK)
Abdellatif Kechiche has chosen to work on the imaginary
breaking off the representation of the stereotyped characters
of the “Hate” (La haine) and he opens other spaces nearly
always denied to the visibility of the daily
life…
Cristina Piccino, IL
MANIFESTO (Italy)
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