A beautiful race

"I had in my hands this script which was originally written by Cyril Gély. I read it in one go on a train and ended my journey in tears... We are all confronted one day with this question: how will things turn out for our parents when they become old? The story of Madeleine, 92 years old, leaving her house to go to an Ephad, brought up a lot of things in me. I knew from the start that this project was written for Line Renaud and I wanted to take her on this journey through space and time... So I took Cyril's script and then I approached Dany Boon, whom I had known since Merry Christmas. In fact, A beautiful race is a bit of a "Ch'tis connection" because all three of us are from the North of France! From a strict director's point of view, I would add that the challenge of filming in a car for a good part of the film excited me a lot... It's never simple and for this film, we had to reinvent the process. - Christian Carion

Director and screenwriter Christian Carion is a true film enthusiast, and it shows in the care he takes with each of his films and in the fact that he has always been able to find the best in each actor to give life to outstanding works. Moving from dramatic comedy to thriller with an undeniable know-how, his previous films have not only held our attention but also Merry Christmas (2005), The Farewell Affair (2099) and My Boy (2017) of which he signed himself the American remake with My Son (2021). 

If the objective of a director is to know how to stage a thrilling story and stay tuned to his audience and the various criticisms made, Christian Carion does not cease to offer successful films and able to hold all our attention without any false note. His new film A Beautiful Race is certainly our favorite and the most touching as it shows the importance of listening to those around us and never giving up when faced with the difficulties of life and the mistakes we can make. It also paints a magnificent portrait of a woman who has endured physical violence, experienced various tragedies, but has always remained honest and strong in her convictions.

Many French films have featured duos of actors who are more or less mismatched but who end up learning from each other to get out of difficult situations. A beautiful race relies in the same way on two excellent actors, the complicity between the actor Dany Boon (perfect in a risky counter role) and Line Renaud who have already shot three films together (The House of Happiness (2006), Welcome to the Ch'tis (2008), The Little Family (2018)) is visible on screen and certainly gives this film an undeniable added value.

The story, which could seem rather simplistic in itself, is not because many returns in the past will give the character played by Line Renaud a strong emotional dimension. We discover a cab driver, Charles, who has only two points left on his license and who must quickly find a solution to overcome a significant debt. For him, his cab occupies an important place and he knows perfectly the streets of Paris in which he transports many customers every day. One day, he meets a nonagenarian woman, Madeleine (Line Renaud), who has to leave her house because she can no longer manage on her own and has no children, to go to a retirement home in Courbevoie. What could have been just another errand for Charles will turn into a true friendship. Madeleine will tell him her tragic story and ask him to stop at different places near and in Paris that mark moments in her life. 

While one might expect a pre-determined path, the script co-written by director Christian Carion and Cyril Gély succeeds in keeping us on our toes and above all in making us understand that one must know how to fight to succeed in life and above all to listen to one's environment and at times lower one's shield to give oneself a chance to create strong and sincere friendships. By alternating scenes from the past and the present, A beautiful race is one of the best French films of this year and offers Line Renaud and Dany Boon two magnificent roles. Dany Boon in a dramatic role successfully moves away from his role as a comedian and finally shows that he is capable of playing something other than the people he seems to play in many films. As for Line Renaud, we have known for a very long time that she is an excellent actress and is certainly an important personality in French cinema.

Another of the many undeniable qualities of this film is that it finds a way to make us love this sprawling city in each of the shots shot in Paris. Far from proposing, as some American films do, scenes worthy of a soulless postcard, director Christian Carion constantly makes the best possible choices to bring out all the beauty of certain districts of this city.  

It's impossible not to hold back tears during the last scenes of this film, which were in our eyes the most moving seen in a French film this year. Not that the director plays the card of the maudlin side to the extreme but succeeds in giving life to deeply human characters in which the spectators will be able to project themselves whatever their age. In this respect, A beautiful race is in our eyes one of our favorite French films, far from the repetitive mainstream comedies.

A beautiful race
Directed by Christian Carion
Produced by Christian Carion, Laure Irrmann 
Written by Cyril Gély, Christian Carion
With Dany Boon, Line Renaud, Alice Isaaz, Jérémie Laheurte, Julie Delarme, Gwendoline Hamon 
Music : Phillipe Rombi
Image : Pierre Cottereau
Editing : Loïc Lallemand
Production companies: Une Hirondelle Productions, TF1 Films Production, Bright Lights Films, Kobayashi Communication
Distributed by Pathé Distribution (France)
Release date: September 21, 2022 (France)
Running time: 101 minutes

Seen on September 23, 2022 at Gaumont Disney Village, Room 3 seat A19

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