Poetical Refugee

Jallel (Sami Bouajila) comes to France like a Candide chasing Eldorado, hoping to try his luck in Paris. Abdellatif Kechiche, in his first feature, sends him from one encounter to the next, from hostels to welfare groups, among people with Lucie (Élodie Bouchez) and Franck (Bruno Lochet) who have little but each other. What Jallel finds there is a solidarity among the destitute, shared out plainly.