La Smala (1984)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1984
	Director: Jean-Loup Hubert
	Actors: Victor Lanoux (Adieu Poulet, Canicule, Les Démons de Jésus), Josiane Balasko (Le père Noël est une ordure, Papy fait de la résistance, Gazon maudit), Dominique Lavanant (Les Bronzés, Les bronzés font du ski, Papy fait de la résistance)
	Country: F
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 22.09.2019, in-flight entertainment 10" screen.
Synopsis: Robert (Lanoux) was abandoned with five kids by his wife. The nanny Simone (Balasko) feels for him and reluctantly helps the family when they travel to Paris looking for Robert's wife.
Review: As often, flying Air France is the opportunity to watch French movies. And more often oldies rather than recent releases. I hadn't seen La Smala in decades and it was nice to see all those known actors, pretty young at the time. I had only a vague recollection of the story, and now watching the movie as adult I see the different (social) layers in it as I didn't last time I saw it as kid or teenager. The movie depicts in a very realistic way the "live one day at a time" lifestyle of the big cities suburbs in France in the 80's. Unlike in the USA for example, suburbs in France are where big apartment buildings were built to house the working (or later unemployed) class. So nothing very dreamy, little money but a strong community spirit. And this is what is depicted in the movie, between the absent mother, the mixed family including other kids, a grandma and the nanny, neighbors stories... The reaction of the characters are not driven by logic but by friendship, passion and survival. This makes for a much more touching movie than the one taking place in a similar environment a decade later: La Haine, and in which characters are driven by (repressed) hate and anger. The audience feels (or at least felt at the time of release) sympathy for the characters and their struggle in La Smala. It is a comedy but dark at times and with a strong social context which makes you feel a large panel of emotions in fact. Several details show that the movie was well-thought and had many things to say, like the background of some characters which is just hinted, or Robert's wife that we in fact never see. Recommended for a sample of good French cinema from that period.
Rating: 7 /10