Wesh wesh, qu'est-ce qui se passe?

This is a great movie to look at if you are at all interested in how the French culture really operates. The stratification and the problems that many youth face in the banlieues or slums of Paris is really taken to heart and shown as if it were through the eyes every disadvantaged French citizen.

This film addresses key questions: How and why do people turn into criminals? Are these youth involved in a self-fulfilling prophecy? Is the "system" a vicious cycle?

Strongly recommended for the French ethnicity flavor and the culture that most tourists do not see.

I saw this movie at the San Francisco Arab American Film Festival in 2006, held in San Francisco and San Jose, CA. I enjoyed it, and the follow-up film "Bled Number One." I really liked the actor who played the lead. The story was a typical one for someone growing up poor in a particular country, but it was the lead actor who really made the movies memorable. The second film continued the story and showed what happened when he tries to return home to Algeria and has problems in re-adjusting to life there. (It's true, you can never go home again...)

One of the only problems I have, is in buying the DVDs. I've looked it up on Amazaon.com/UK and both films have been released - however, you can only purchase them on Amazon.com/France, and I can't read/write French. Tried but a glitch came up. Any idea as to whether both DVDs will be released through a chain store like Virgin Megastores? The first movie "Wesh,wesh...." came out in 2001 and to festivals in 2002 - so it's too bad they haven't seen fit to send it to the US.

A relevant story about a reality which hasn't changed much in 20 years. The plot is not perfect but it achieves its objective. There are amazing takes and the atmosphere is well constructed.