Name: La faute à Voltaire
Genre: Drama
Released: 2001-02-14
Duration: 2 h 6 min
Rating: 6.9
Cast: Sami Bouajila, Élodie Bouchez, Bruno Lochet

This film was very poorly received in it's native country and it's easy to guess why.  It highlights many of the less attractive characteristics of the French and their attitudes towards those living on the more uncomfortable edges of their society.  Watching the film, it is impossible not to reflect with shame upon any time you have avoided eye contact with a begger or street vendor.  Not exactly the sort of feeling you hope to get for your 45 Franc entrance fee. Discomfiting his viewers is not the only way in which Kechiche breaks the rules.  The basic film formula is completely abandoned in favour of a realistic story - an almost unprecedented approach to film making.  One of the major characters disappears without trace halfway through the film. This sort of thing happens in everyone's life - you break up with your boyfriend and never hear from him again - but filmmaking rules stipulate that such departures should be neatly explained and followed up.  It seems Kechiche never learnt the rules, or indeed that he's completely uninterested in making a commercially successful or at least critically acclaimed film. But that's his business - whatever his motives were, I'm glad I stumbled into the cinema when I did, as la Faute a Voltaire, one of the most touching and impressive films I've seen in years, only got ran for a few weeks in Paris cinemas.

French-language cinema, whether in France, Québec, or other Francophone regions, explores cultural identity, social change, and the tension between the individual and society. French cinema is not only celebrated for its intellectual experimentation and auteur traditions, but also its success in mainstream comedy, romance, and commercial entertainment. In Québec, films often focus on questions of language, belonging, and community within a distinct cultural landscape.

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The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

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