A cop frees a delinquent out of respect for his war-hero father. Big mistake. Huge.
In a working-class immigrant neighborhood slated for demolition, Jo, the son of Ali, known as the Rescuer from the Algerian war, lives idle and delinquent, committing small assaults to pay for his drugs. One day, while attacking Slim's bar, he is arrested by Ben, a young beur cop torn between his roots and the imperatives of his mission to maintain public order. Giving in to the respect and friendship he feels for Ali, Ben agrees to release his son. But alas, far from calming down, Jo drifts deeper into violence, until the inevitable drama.
Acting
Miloud Khetib's haunted eyes say everything the script doesn't.
Direction
Touita shoots the banlieue like a prison with no walls.
Director
Okacha Touita
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Made during France's tense 1980s debates on immigration, the film was rarely screened domestically — too honest about colonial debts.
The title's double meaning: Ali 'rescued' France in the war, but his son cannot be rescued from France.
FR
