When it comes to social injustice in 21st-century France, writer and director Ladj Ly has been on the frontlines of history. A child of the Montfermeil housing projects in the Paris suburbs, he captured the rage of the 2005 riots that engulfed the neighborhood in the 2006 docu short “365 jours à Clichy Montfermeil.” His celebrated feature debut, 2019’s “Les Misérables,” chronicles the abusive relationship between the residents of that town and often resentful police officers who live miles from the area. After co-writing and producing Romain Graves’ own epic of civil unrest, 2022’s “Athena,” he steps behind the camera once more for his second feature directorial effort, “Les Indésirables,” and while the subject matter is just as timely, the overall result is slightly less scintillating.
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Ly has set this particular tale in a fictional Parisian commune but notes his initial inspiration was to craft a biopic on Claurd Dilain, a progressive mayor of Chilchy-sous-Bois, another notorious Parisian suburb, who died unexpectedly before his work to transform his community came to pass. This film, in fact, begins with a mayor of a similar stature experiencing a heart attack during a ceremony to celebrate the demolition of a deteriorating housing project. Following his passing, the city council narrowly appointed a first-time councilperson and local pediatrician, Pierre Forge (Alexis Manenti), to take over. Reserved and absolutely inexperienced, Forge now has to work with his predecessor’s longtime ally, Roger Riche (Steve Tientcheu), the deputy mayor who almost secured the council’s favor for Mayor. Riche is particularly disappointed as he’s kept his fingers in the business of the town’s rougher neighborhoods, often to the benefit of its more affluent citizens. That, notably, includes plans to revitalize low-income housing areas.
One of those residents is Haby (Anta Diaw), a twentysomething activist who splits her time working for an association assisting new immigrants and a day job archiving files in City Hall. When she discovers the city’s plans to rebuild her tower have been changed and will now make things actually more difficult for large families, she approaches Riche looking for his support to remedy the situation. To her dismay, he dismisses her concerns and sends her looking for more radical solutions.
Conversely, Forge is not the beloved politician his predecessor was and stumbles out of the gate in his new role. He turns away residents looking for help on the street (and at his practice) while his wife Nathalie (Aurélia Petit), a more compassionate soul against his promotion, dismisses his policies at home. He begins a string of bad decisions when, without any public notice, he pushes through a new ordinance setting a curfew for teenagers. It’s an arrogant move that almost immediately sets fire to long-festering resentment as it pits a group of struggling residents against a police force completely under the city’s control.
Unlike Ly’s previous work, however, the police are actually not front and center in “Les Indésirables.” They are only a means for a slowly unraveling city government to enact pain on its people. Ly and his co-screenwriter, Giordano Gederlini (who also co-wrote “Les Miserables”), have no desire to simplify the situation. This is a town that blatantly embraces light-skinned immigrants or migrants over its darker-skinned French-born citizens (and who actually speak the language). This is a town where a character such as Riche, who is black, appears more interested in keeping the power his position affords than attempting to uplift the neighborhood where he grew up. This is a town where the governing political party’s patience has worn thin over tenants occupying a decaying slum that is an eyesore, not to mention lowering property values (You spent decades paying interest on your apartment? Too bad, 11,000 euros is all you’re getting as we kick you to the curb).
Amongst this corruption and deceit lies Blaz (Aristote Luyindula), Haby’s almost-boyfriend, who is a character that will be immediately familiar to many in the Western world. Blaz is a young black man who has been oppressed for so long that he justifiably cannot take it anymore. And when the city decides to evict his entire tower over “safety concerns” (during Christmas, no less), Blaz lashes out in a manner you may or may not believe. Ly takes a jump and the movie almost (emphasis on “almost”) hinges on whether the viewer believes such events would actually occur.
Then again, Ly makes it clear there is no magic panacea for the real-world scenario he presents. The English translation for “Les Indésirables” is literally “The Undesirables.” And providing adequate housing, living conditions, and compassion almost never comes to pass when those in power view those economically below them through that lens. And in that regard, the politics of Ly’s latest endeavor may spark more conversation than its actual narrative. [C+]
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