Le ciel attendra par Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar
2018; American Association of Teachers of French; Volume: 91; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Francês
10.1353/tfr.2018.0255
ISSN2329-7131
Autores Tópico(s)Cultural Identity and Heritage
Resumotreatment of the subject matter and its method of analysis. Maazouzi examines memory narratives of the Algerian war and investigates the ways in which they are remembered, reconstructed, and narrated by authors and filmmakers who constitute different “groupes de mémoire.” According to Maazouzi, the works of these groups are influenced by their subjective experiences and informed by a shared colonial past. To explain this dynamic better, she adopts Dominique Maingueneau’s concept of “scénographies mémorielles,” which, according to her,“se retrouvent dans la manière dont les groupes de mémoire de la guerre d’Algérie (harki, immigration algérienne, pieds-noirs) vivent [...] leur rapport au passé à partir du présent” (99). Maazouzi analyzes both the works of established authors and filmmakers as well as less familiar ones that are published online. The book is divided into four chapters. The first lays out a rich theoretical framework, and the three others study three reoccurring themes: “trial, encounter, and return” as reflected in novels, movies, documentaries and web films. Her analysis focuses on works by Tony Gatlif, son of pied-noir parents, Zahia Rahmani, daughter of harki parents, and Mehdi Charef, son of Algerian immigrant parents. In addition to these works, Maazouzi discusses a selection of web films and online texts, stressing the fact that the accessibility of online publishing allows narratives based on personal memories of the war to proliferate. Maazouzi explains how memories of the war emerge in these authors’ works and how they inform their narratives as well as their perceptions of other stories. The analysis of Zahia Rahmani’s novel Moze (2003), Mehdi Charef’s trilogy—Le dernier voyage (2005), À-bras-le-cœur (2006), and Cartouches gauloises (2006)—and Tony Gatlif’s film Exils (2004) reveals how their vibrant remembrances of the Algerian war is a mode of expressing themselves in the present. We see the process of a possible trial of the colonial past unfold in Rahmani’s Moze; Charef’s trilogy treats the encounter with the“other”; and Gatlif’s film expresses a desire for a return to normalcy and the possibility of reconciliation. By choosing to look at their narrativized memories, Maazouzi offers an implicit criticism of the representation of the Algerian war by mainstream discourse both in Algeria and France. The official narrative of the war in both countries does not look into individual experiences. Instead it creates its own story to serve its political agendas. Maazouzi’s book explores a new perspective to find commonalities between the experiences of groups that have been otherwise shattered by their memories of the war. Bloomsburg University (PA) Yahya Laayouni Mention-Schaar, Marie-Castille, réal. Le ciel attendra. Int. Noémie Merlant, Naomi Amarger, Sandrine Bonnaire, Clotilde Courau. Willow, 2016. Restituer la complexité du processus de radicalisation islamiste au cinéma n’est pas une mince affaire tant au point de vue narratif qu’esthétique, mais on dit souvent que le défi du cinéma social n’est pas tant la façon de rendre compte d’une certaine réalité 270 FRENCH REVIEW 91.3 Reviews 271 que de nous y sensibiliser, ce que certains sont parvenus à faire comme Nabil Ayouch avec Les chevaux de Dieu (2016), ou bien même Nicolas Boukhrief avec Made in France (2015), ainsi que Philippe Faucon avec La désintégration (2011). Dans le cas de MarieCastille Mention-Schaar, plusieurs spécialistes de la question lui ont reproché d’avoir abordé un problème social complexe sans se soucier de la véracité des faits exploités dans son film. Du coup, on oublie à quel point Le ciel attendra nous incite à réfléchir à la vulnérabilité de tous ceux/celles susceptibles de basculer dans le fanatisme, quel que soit leur statut socio-économique et/ou appartenance culturelle. Malgré l’absence de perspective, la réalisatrice a su trouver le ton et les images justes tout en évitant les codes du thriller. Ce qui frappe en premier lieu, c’est le rapport intime entre fiction et investigation. À l’aide d’un excellent casting, la réalisatrice parvient à trouver le juste dosage entre les récits parallèles des deux jeunes filles...
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