Part of 'Soul Food' this month on Curzon12.
Winner of the Special Jury Prize and nominated for the Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival 2007.
It would be hard to imagine a more different film from the Palme d’Or-winning director of ‘Blue Is The Warmest Colour’ than this energetic, good-humoured social tableau. Abdellatif Kechiche’s international breakthrough is set amongst a North African community on the French coast. Monsieur Beiji wants to realise his long-cherished dream of opening a floating restaurant specialising in fish and couscous dishes. But the ship still needs to be renovated and local dignitaries to be persuaded that the venture has a future. And then there are Beiji's friends and family – including the new woman in his life, his ex-wife and a host of neighbours – who have their own parts to play in the success or failure of his dream.
Evocative of Ken Loach in its portrait of community life, 'Couscous' is an affectionate and intimate portrait of the cultural landscape of modern France.
★★★★★ "A fiercely unsentimental commentary on the sexual politics of family and food" - Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
15
147 minutes
2007
Award Winners, Drama
France
Arabic, French
English
Curzon Artificial Eye