Semplicemente nero

Sure would like to see this film, but it was only shown briefly on a French Film festival tour. It is now impossible to obtain with English subtitles.

I found this difficult to follow since the dialogue is unforgivingly French and thus the speed of it was not conducive for reading all the lines with subtitles. Would have been better for the English release if they dubbed the whole movie in English, like they did to reel us in with the English dubbed trailer.

Portraying himself as a bumbling activist who keeps rubbing people the wrong way, Jean-Pascal has created a goofy yet poignant mockumentary exploring the complexities and difficulties of being black and French. Lovers of french cinema will also be rewarded with many surprise appearances of celebrities who, like this film, poke fun at themselves but over a compelling subtext. One negative is that this film doesn't pass the Bechdel test. While there is a very humorous scene in which Jean-Pascal the character is confronted with this for his activism, I would've liked if Jean-Pascal the director could have rectified it for his film. Overall though this is a must-watch which will make you laugh a lot and pause to reflect a bit too.

This movie aims high with a satyrical discourse take on the various, complex forms of French identity, history of racism and people who feel like a failure in spite of their efforts. The main character is a failed comedian who stumbles into human rights activism on his quest for success in French showbusiness. Soon he finds out he's way over his head in uncharted waters that don't have a lot to do with human rights, but publicity, appropriation and money. The movie demasks activism as something exclusive instead of inclusive and a battlefield of minorities for center stage in social media and politics. Reducing a greater cause as means to an end that only benefits the main protagonists, it's simultaneously entertaining and saddening. Because JP wants to play a game he's completely unfamiliar with and soon finds himself in a crossfire between hooligans, racism, activism and showbusiness that uses humanitarian causes as merely another form of PR. JP turns out to be completely illiterate in terms of social intelligence. You almost feel sorry for him but then again, he just wanted to succeed in showbusiness. The humiliating encounter with the comedienne in her backstage room was painful to watch, but it's a great depiction of the precarious reality of profession.

JP Zadi is my new favourite comedian after watching Simply Black and Represent on Netflix. His basic schtick of the confused uncomfortable expression is already superb even though that's not generally the kind of humour that I go for. But underlying the dopey visage are very cutting observations on race and society that go both ways - critical of both majority and minority attitudes on many fronts. You couldn't make many of these jokes in the US, people have lost all ability to joke about racial issues, which is a terrible shame as it often serves to highlight real and important issues.

Unfortunately my French is a bit meh. Someone tell me where can I find more Zadi in English???