Vandal

More a chronicle than a real story ,"Vandal" was critically-acclaimed but failed at the box office.It is sure easy to see why:the hip hop culture ,although no longer that of a marginal group,is not really mainstream either.

Chérif ,sent to the east of France by his discouraged mom,has found a straight-laced cousin who is part of a pack of taggers who ,when the night has Fallen,go bombing on the walls of Strasbourg town.These rebellious minds are very competitive and there's a mysterious tagger who leaves his "artworks" in out-of-the-way places.One night,however,an accident happens.The night scenes ,with these hooded youngsters recalling the "villains " of the serials of the French silent age ,are not devoid of charm and poetry;we are spared rap music (and music which passes for rock in MTV works),which is a blessing .

The Young director (32) did not try to create his "rebel without a cause" and he avoids the usual clichés .Nevertheless,his depiction of the milieu in which his hero is nurtured is too superficial :his work as a bricklayer's apprentice ,for instance ,is underwritten ;the mother (and grandma) hardly appear.

The last picture may puzzle the viewer.