Une vie meilleure (2011)

Director:

Cédric Kahn

Writers:

Catherine Paillé (scenario), Cédric Kahn (scenario)

Stars:

Guillaume Canet, Leïla Bekhti, Slimane Khettabi

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Guillaume Canet	...	Yann
Leïla Bekhti	...	Nadia
Slimane Khettabi	...	Slimane
Abraham Belaga	...	Le marchand de sommeil
Nicolas Abraham	...	L'entrepreneur
François Favrat	...	Le banquier
Brigitte Sy	...	La femme bénévole surendettement
Fayçal Safi	...	L'acolyte du marchand de sommeil
Annabelle Lengronne	...	La voisine de Yann
Valérie Even	...	La femme du restaurant en Vendée
Daria Kapralska	...	La fille du restaurant en Vendée
Yann Andrieu	...	Le copain en Vendée
Atika Taoualit	...	L'assistance sociale au Collège
Arnaud Ducret	...	Patron Nadia
Adou Khan	...	Vigile magasin chaussures de sport

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

restaurant | debt | lack of money | letter | burdened by debt | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [jp]

Country:

France

Language:

French English

Release Date:

4 January 2012 (France)

Also Known As:

A Better Life

Box Office

Budget:

€5,800,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films du Lendemain, Cinémaginaire Inc., Maia Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (35 mm version)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

User Reviews

struggling with poverty and adversity

Yann Laurent (brilliant performance by Guillaume Canet at his best) is working as a cook in a catering facility and aspires to get a better job as a chef in a restaurant. He meets Nadia, a young waitress, single mother of a 9.5 years old boy named Slimane. They fall in love; then during a day off near a lake, they encounter a closed mansion. With not much preparation, and lack of cash, they buy the place in the aim of opening their restaurant. What begins as a dram will turn out as a nightmare. After works being made to fix the place, authorities do not allow the opening for non compliance to regulations. The downward spiral begins, as they lied to the bank to get the loan (their initial cash was actually borrowed with high interest rates in many loans different companies). Nadia is offered by her boss to go work abroad in Canada. Shes asks Yann to keep her son for a supposedly short period of time, the time she sorts things out. But the situation for all characters seems to get worse and worse on the material level... Slimane's mother left, but he might have found a father... Overall, a film of quality, quite sad, but full of life. The harshness of times of crisis, when the poor people get desperate.