◀ Edito

The Movie Revi-Eww

On May 6, 2023

 In this first Movie Revi-Eww, we are going to talk about a movie that is incredibly important for french cinema. It marks a new era for the biopic genre by showing a completely new view at the time of the “suburb” life. Unfairly critiscized, alas underrated, the movie “The Revenge” by Morsay is a monument of the french, and even the world, cinematography.

 What is the movie about ? The story, inspired from real life, of Morsay and his brother who have to rebuild their life after some time spent unfairly in jail. During a check based solely on apparences, the racist policeman Cédric Vincent tries to sneek a drug bag in the pocket of Morsay, to which he reacts by punching the policeman. Once out of jail, Morsay remains precarious and lives off larceny while his brother decides to go clean by creating a clothing brand named “Truand2LaGalère” (an english equivalent would be “BadGuy0fStruggle” with the zero instead of an “o”).

In the LH, we liked this movie. Mainly for its subtext deeply anti-nazi and anti-racist. On the tshirts made by Zehef (Morsay’s brother), you can spot sentences such as “Fuck all French racists with a spike” or “I’m pissing on racists’ head from the Eiffel Tower”. The antagonists, which are Cédric Vincent’s gang, are true neo-nazis who even have swatiskas tattooed eveywhere.

 It’s also an epic tale about the growing power of Morsay. He’s really good at punching nazis. Proof be in the scene where he defears ten nazis, one of which has a firearm, all alone. A true hero, just like when he helped a veiled woman in the RER C (I recognised him).

 You get it, Morsay is a man of values. A good demonstration of his values is when he starts dating a woman he met in the street. This woman decides to use him as a taxi. He learns this when he sees on her phone the name “Dumb taxi” as his contact name. He acts cool and drives to a small forest. He “drops her off” and steals her stuff. It’s not a good idea to go “gold digger mode” with Morsay, that’s for sure.

Even appart from the fight against the rising racism in France, the movie is a true picture of the “suburb” life and of the current climate. You can feel the misery, pushing you to steal in an “ED”, but also the joy of a BBQ in the center of the Clignancourt district. This is also an opportunity to see Alkpote as a hairdresser !

 And of course, with all that, the interrogation of who are Morsay and his brother. With his shirt business, Zehef becomes a true businessman. He ends up going clean and not feeling comfortable with what Morsay is doing, which he thinks is childish. Beyond that, he looses the sense of the neighborhood. This sibling duality can really be felt in the movie’s most beautiful scene.

At this moment, Morsay doesn’t recognise his brother anymore, he who gives up to the french bourgeoisie and deny his origin.

 This notion of identity moves every character. When Cédric Vincent decides to finish Morsay, he chooses, as he says, to “take an arab to kill an arab”. This youngster that stabs Morsay on the order of the nazi, feels tormented by the need to get money and the need to hurt a brother.

 Later, in an amazing curveball, we learn that this young man’s mother is the veiled woman that Morsay had rescued… In a twist that is worthy of acclamations as glorious as the ones that were given in ancient Greece, the nieghborhood comes together to end the nazis and this traitor.

 This final stage is a true instance of brotherhood. While Morsay is fighting for his life in the hospital, all of his friends run to the nazis’ HQ. The young man does the same thing, to kill the nazis. The stage of this final fight is amazing. One by one, the nazis are getting hit and fall to the ground. Morsay, learning the news, takes the decision to go there WHILE INJURED (what a man) so he can stop this senseless violence.

In the end, Morsay meets the one who stabbed him. He points his weapon at him, and after a long wait, decides to let him live, because he understood that his situation was complicated. An amazing character development for our protagonist that is growing wiser. During this time, Zehef found Cédric Vincent, the original nazi. And so the movie ends : “Revenge is a dish best served now” and he shoots the nazi. A twist in the sibling duality. Zehef became the impulsive one.

 This conclusion cannot begin to cover how much we liked this movie. I will nevertheless add the description of a scene particularly touching. Morsay goes to sleep at a friend’s home, after spending some time in jail. It’s a nice pajama party. And there, a foot smell enters the room. For more than a whole minute of the movie, the characters repetively explains that it smells like feet. THIS is a scene showing true friendship.

If you want to see this gem, send a dm to Maxence Jauberty.