Le Nouveau Raz-de-Marée - A New Movement in French Cinema?
CW: The film contains a lot of explicit violence
Shannon O’Riordan
---- Carbone ----
GENRE: (True) Crime, Dark, “Gangster Flick” (because apparently that’s a thing that exists)
FAVOURITE QUOTE: « Un proverbe arabe dit que trois choses donnent la mesure d’un homme: le commandement, la richesse et le malheur. J’ai eu la chance et la malchance de connaître les trois. Je ‘sais pas si ça fait de moi un homme bon ou mauvais... »
FAVOURITE SCENE: The final scene - brilliant.
FILMS IT MIGHT REMIND YOU OF: Not a film, but it’s a bit like a modern-day Peaky Blinders. Maybe mixed with a film like The Irishman.
RATING: * * * * * * (4/6)
Credit: Carbone, Directed by Olivier Marchal, performances by Benoît Magimel, Gringe, Idir Chender, 2017. Netflix, https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81005312?source=35
Column IV
As we near the one-year anniversary of what feels like a COVID-induced fever dream, I thought I’d start this article by taking you all back to the start of the first lockdown. Picture it: you’re in the vacation between Lent and Easter term, your exams might be happening, or might not be, and so, instead of facing reality, you decide that the sofa and Netflix will become your new best friends. You scroll through Twitter, you see that “#CaroleDidIt” is trending, your curiosity takes the better of you and you click on it, only to see a cowboy with a pistol on his waist and a massive tiger by his side. Looking up from your small screen to your big screen, you decide to see what all the fuss is about, and click on this random new series called Tiger King. And with that one decision, you fall down the true crime rabbit hole. Forever.
You may remember that my last column revealed my secret obsession with period dramas. So, in keeping with my somewhat self-deprecating choice of films, this week I am revealing another of my (not-so-secret) obsessions: true crime. You can ask anyone in my life, and they will tell you that I am constantly, and I mean constantly, doing something to do with true crime. Whether that be watching my twentieth documentary about Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 assassination (yes, there were two Kennedy assassinations in five years), falling asleep to a podcast about Fred and Rose West, or writing an essay on 15th century Italian theatre whilst learning about the Zodiac Killer; it doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m doing, I just cannot get enough of true crime. So, instead of irritating my sister for the millionth time by explaining my thoughts on another true crime event, I thought I’d annoy you, my wonderful reader(s?).
Credit: Carbone, Directed by Olivier Marchal, performances by Benoît Magimel, Gringe, Idir Chender, 2017. Netflix, https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81005312?source=35
Antoine Roca (Benoît Magimel)
I can already hear the faint cries of “get to the point!”, and your wish is my command; on with the show (review)! Whilst scrolling through my list of French films on Netflix, I came across Carbone (Carbon), a 2017 French crime drama directed by Olivier Marchal, an ex-policeman-turned-director, and the summary synopsis left me with no choice but to watch it. Based on the real story of the Carbon Connection scandal of 2008-2009, this film follows Antoine Roca (Benoît Magimel) as he tries to save his business and reputation after his father-in-law (Gérard Depardieu) and his wife (Carole Brana) learn that his trucking company is in large amounts of debt. Fair warning: this film is not for the faint-hearted, nor for anyone who might be triggered by explicit violence, there is a lot of gun violence in particular. This should give you a pretty good indicator of where the plot of the film goes…
Given the fact this is based on a real-life crime, you would think that it would properly explore what exactly that crime was, but for most of the film my predominant emotion was confusion (which admittedly is something I am well-accustomed to). Throughout the first section of the film, we see Antoine, a pair of pretty untrustworthy brothers (played by Idir Chender and Gringe [Guillaume Tranchant’s stage name]) and their mother (played by Dani [stage name of singer Danièle Graule]) as they work together on a complex, fraudulent plot to make some fast cash. What exactly this plot is, however, I could not tell you. All I know is that it has something to do with VAT, something to do with carbon, and something to do with a lot (and I mean a LOT!) of money. To be honest, I think the best way to enjoy this film is to suspend your disbelief a little bit and, instead of trying to understand the ins and outs of the crime, just accept that it is a rather clever plan that appears very lucrative and seems to be the perfect means to an end for Antoine. We see him and the brothers flying high on the success of this scheme, living a life of newfound luxury, surrounded by drugs, drink, girls, and splendour. There is even a (forced) romance or two. In short, everything seems to be perfect. Until (predictably) it isn’t.
Credit: Carbone, Directed by Olivier Marchal, performances by Benoît Magimel, Gringe, Idir Chender, 2017. Netflix, https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81005312?source=35
Conspirators at their base
Because what would a (true) crime drama be without a twist or two? I accept that the first of these ‘twists’ is not so much of a twist as much as a foreseeable problem that our shady protagonist should have seen coming. Surely borrowing a large amount of money from known crooks can’t end well for anyone, whether you’re a fellow crook or not. The second twist, however, I did not see coming. I won’t spoil it for you, but just know it’s pretty good.
It also ties in directly to one of my favourite aspects of the film: the structure. Carbone uses a cyclical structure, meaning that the first and last scenes are the same, and the action in between is building up to that one moment. This is one of the most over-used and cliché film structures, and directors who use it are often torn to pieces by film critics who accuse them of lazy film writing. I, however, happen to be a big fan of this structure when it is used correctly and in fact, my favourite film of all time - Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) - uses this technique to great effect. I think that Carbone is also an example of a successful and effective use of cyclical structure: the film opens with our main character being shot at point-blank range, and the rest of the film explores how he gets into that position, and sets up a mini ‘who-dunnit’ which underlies the whole plot. It’s well-done, and I don’t think it’s used just to seem fancy, nor do I believe that it is a reflection of lazy screenwriting.
Credit: Carbone, Directed by Olivier Marchal, performances by Benoît Magimel, Gringe, Idir Chender, 2017. Netflix, https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81005312?source=35
Antoine Roca (Benoît Magimel) working on a scam
That said, I do have one main gripe with this film: a true crime drama, it is not. Admittedly, it is not publicised as such (there is no mention of ‘true’ in the Netflix promotion or any of the ‘about’ pages), but the end of the film has a true-crime-like series of messages about the real crime. Think about the ending of the ITV show Des, a dramatisation of the crimes of serial killer Dennis Nilsen, where there is a slideshow of sentences talking about the victims and the impact of his actions. In the case of Des, this style of ending makes sense: the whole series is focused on the inspectors in charge of the crime and how they handled the investigation, and it’s loyal to almost all of the real facts. As such, returning to reality for the final few minutes makes sense. In the case of Carbone, this style of ending is bizarre, comes almost out of nowhere, and completely changes the tone and pace of the film. Suddenly you are expected to believe that this insanely violent and dramatic film is supposed to be a form of social commentary on global warming and on the weaknesses of a specific EU policy.
I accept that artistic changes must be made to make real crime entertaining for a wider audience - who would want to watch some broke crooks having a midlife crisis spend most of their days on computers trying to play the system? But, having read up on the case, I think this film has dramatised and added so much that it is, at the very most, loosely based on real events - maybe even just inspired by a newspaper headline.
Overall then, if you forget the ‘true’ part of this ‘true crime’ drama and are willing to suspend your disbelief for about 1 hour 45 minutes, this film is a very entertaining piece of cinema. It has everything you want from a crime drama: violence, suspense, betrayal, a good-old ‘who-dunnit’, and much more and, as someone who loves TV shows like Spooks (my favourite fictional spy drama), it definitely floats my boat.