Crack 6T

The film takes place in a cold concrete Paris suburb, where gangs of youths are driven by the desire for revenge in the outcast's struggle for survival. Only the strong survive in a land without laws or justice. Arco, Malik and Mustafa are the school's juvenile thugs who spend most of their time wandering the streets, starting fights, breaking glass, and setting fire to rubbish bins. Their main interests are women and alcohol. Among the older ones, however, there is a political and social awareness, and they bring matters to a head. Revolution breaks out and this is the only thing that can improve their situation.
''Sedition c'est la solution!'' Revolution is the solution, is what White & Spirit sing about the poor, crime ridden world of the suburb, about the oppressors and the oppressed. The social reality is a dead-end, a ticking time bomb threatening to blow up the entire structure of society. ''Ma 6.T va crack-er'' is a play on words, a prediction that means ''my city is crumbling'', the day will come when we've had enough and the revolution will be upon us. As in his previous film, ”État des lieux”, Richet deals with the trauma of the working class suburb.
The film is shot in Jean-François Richet's hometown of Meaux, a blue-collar suburb east of Paris, and is very much a politically motivated depiction of the struggle for survival by society's outcasts. Virtually all of the actors come form the street. They use their own names, and like Richet, have grown up in the environment described in the film. The film took two years to make and was rife with problems, some of the actors disappearing regularly to serve out prison sentences. Though the story itself is fictional, the screenplay is written like a documentary. Richet stresses that there are no lone heroes, only groups, victims of the difficult social conditions. Using a mobile camera and quick cuts Richet covers both the intimate discussions, as well as the explosive street violence in the riot scenes. The black hip-hop music is an ever present life pulse that gives expression to the brutal reality. The symbols of oppression are clear. In rhythm with the beat of the music, a young woman waves a red flag. Against the background of street violence, she puts a gun to her temple and squeezed he eyes tightly shut.
Ma 6.T va crack-er is a bitingly realistic and very well-made drama, a powerful current documentary of the darkest edges of the modern concrete jungle, and it carries a general plea: take notice and act.
Paula Ciliberto