The Cinematic Practice of a “cinéaste ordinaire”: Abdellatif Kechiche and French Political Cinema

Abstract

This essay analyzes Kechiche's film, La Graine et le mulet, in terms of auteur theory and French political cinema. It argues that the problematic category of “Beur cinema” too readily essentializes the cinematic practice of an auteur like Abdellatif Kechiche. It provides compelling arguments as to why Kechiche should be regarded as an important French auteur who reflects on contemporary issues that affect the working people of France, those of Maghrebian descent included. La Graine et le mulet is as much about France's place in a globalized economy as about the anxieties of different communities that must compete for the scare jobs or resources when these jobs are in short supply.