Ever wondered what it would be like to see Gérard Depardieu rap? Wonder no more. Director Rachid Djaïdani's second film, Tour de France (French Tour), blends rap music, a road movie and Islamophobia to hold a mirror up to French society, with amusing and at times confrontational results.
It even features a cameo from Yasiin Bey, better known as Mos Def.
French hip-hop star Sadek stars as Far’Hook, a 20-year-old rapper forced to get out of Paris in a hurry to save his life. Bilal, a friend who is a producer and convert to Islam, suggests that Far’hook drive Bilal’s prejudiced father, Serge (Depardieu), on a tour of French ports, inspired by the journeys of classic painter Claude Joseph Vernet.
On the road, they do not so much discover beautiful landscapes and sea views, as two opposing sensibilities rooted in intolerance.
Written and directed by Djaïdani, the comedy offers a rebuke to the idea that Muslims are somehow separated from general French society. This is timely, with next year’s French presidential elections around the corner and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen the front-runner to win the first round of voting, amid a general shift towards right-wing politics around the world.
On casting Depardieu, Djaïdani says: “He chose us, we didn’t choose him. He has nothing to prove. When he looks at you, you have to be able to hold his gaze.”
The director spent a lot of time looking for an actor who could rap to play Far’Hook, but knew he had his man when Sadek walked into the room.
“We had to work on the chemistry between the protagonists,” says Djaïdani.
“We also needed actors that could work organically, and could match up physically.” Sadek also provides much of the film’s soundtrack.
“Usually, I like to write in the night but with 6am wake-up calls, I couldn’t stay up till 4am. So I remember sometimes I would be composing songs and learning lines on the way to set in the car. It was tough.”
One song he did not write but performs in the film is the French national anthem, La Marseillaise.
“When I wrote that scene, my references were Serge Gainsbourg and Jean-Marie Juan, but no one, as far as I know, has done the French national anthem with rap,” says Djaïdani.
The use of it in this way captures the sensibility of the film.
“People don’t want us to take this song as ours,” Djaïdani adds.
“But it’s taboo on both sides. I’m not sure people from the suburbs will accept us singing the national anthem either.”
Sadek echoes the sentiment: "The day I become the mayor of Paris is the day that I will rap La Marseillaise in reality."
• Tour de France screens at Vox Cinemas, Mall of the Emirates, on Sunday (December 11) at 6.15pm and on Tuesday (December 13) at 3pm. Tickets cost Dh35
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