Un deux trois soleil

In the suburbs of Marseille the smile of a young woman may quickly turn into a clenched fist and the scorching sun be transformed into the darkest of nights. Off and on you will find guys here bragging about how they shot another guy in the back. Victorine would burn the whole goddam thing down if she lost control. She wants a decent life; to meet a guy, have a normal mother and a father who stands up for himself.

COMMENTARY
France, in the winter of 1992: a baker in Reims is found not guilty although it has been verified that he shot a colored fatherof-two in the back for stealing a couple of croissants. In the verdict the murder is called self-defence.
Easter of 1993: a 17-year-old boy from Zaire is questioned in a police station in the 18th arrondissement, suspected of stealing cigarettes in a burglary. The policeman questioning him is drunk and puts his service pistol to the boy's head. The weapon goes off. The 17-year-old is killed instantly.
During the same week similar ''accidents'' occur around France and at the Boulevard the Magenta, not far from the police station where the young African was killed, cars are burned and shops are looted during the riots that follow.
This is the atmosphere of France. Four million unemployed people cast a shadow, making racism and anger grow ever
stronger. The atmosphere is explosive.
Un deux trois solei! is a warm and sunny story about taking the step from childhood, to adolescence, to life as an adult. It takes place in the outskirts of Marseille. A charming triviality? Sure, if that is the way you want to see it. But most of all it is a film about France in 1993, where your friends' parents are born in North Africa and there are people who would prefer to throw them out of the country, a place where you shoot with live ammunition in order to protect your video (or your croissants). A country you may still like, but find it difficult to feel any wholehearted sympathy towards. A country coming down in the world, just as Victorine's father, the main protagonist of the film.
I won't make a hollow and pathetic statement about Un deux trois solei! being an ''important'' film. Instead I will settle for a statement about the fact that it does say something about France of today. Besides, in Anouk Grinberg we will find yet another Frenchwoman of the screen to fall in love with. ':'
Thord Eriksson

Medverkande
Anouk Grinberg, Marcello Mastroianni: Producent
Patrice Ledoux: Manus
Bertrand Blier: Foto
Gerard de Battista: Talat språk
French