Brilliant
Expectations were high for The Story of Souleymane as it comes highly credentialed after winning the 2024 Cannes Film Festival (Un Certain Regard) Jury Prize and Best Actor (Abou Sangaré) and many other European film awards and it does not disappoint – this is an excellent movie.
Director and co-writer Boris Lojkine’s third feature takes us through the bustling streets of Paris with Souleymane, a Guinea immigrant and food delivery courier, who is working without permission of the authorities with a rented identity while preparing for his asylum application interview. To prepare for the interview he engages an agent to coach him with a false statement of political oppression in Guinea to aid with his application, the substance of the story Souleymane struggles with.
Lojkine and other co-writer Delphine Agut’s narrative is fast paced as it hurls Souleymane through his encounters with other immigrants, customers, food workers and Police. Counterposed are quieter moments of phone interactions with his sick mother and his girlfriend.
Lojkine wanted the script to be an authentic portrayal of the immigrant experience in Paris, so he met with actual food delivery couriers who told him of the issues they encounter with delivery apps and other problems with the process, finding short term accommodation, other couriers and the most pressing issue of obtaining papers.
Most of the scenes are shot with a small crew of five to six on the set with no lighting or the usual encumbrances of traditional film making. To do this Belgian cinematographer Tristan Galand, with a background of both fiction and documentary film, was tasked with giving the movie a strong realistic aesthetic.
The majority of the cast are non-professional actors with no acting experience. Through the Guinean community Abou Sangaré was discovered and over a number months gained actual experience as a food delivery courier and developed into the role of Souleymane. Sangaré’s performance is superb and well deserves his Cannes, European Film Award and César Award for the role.
The Story of Souleymane is a modern story of an industry built around immigration and asylum seekers brilliantly told and performed but is underlined by a more timeless simple theme of movement of people wanting something better for themselves and their families, perhaps that is the most enduring theme of humanity itself.
Reviewed by Rob McKinnon
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