The Marchers

Plot

In 1983 France, teenaged Mohamed (Jallab) is shot by a policeman, but survives. Rejecting his friends' proposal of violent retribution, he proposes political action inspired by Gandhi and Martin Luther King. With two friends, and support from Dubois (Gourmet), the priest of Minguettes (Lyon), they embark on a non-violent March for Equality and Against Racism between Marseille and Paris.

Cast

Comparison to historical events

Answering a question about taking "liberties with the narration when telling a true story", director and co-writer Ben Yadir said: "You focus on the great History: the towns, the march of the torches, the return to Lyon, the death of Habib Grimzi, all these images that pull you back to reality... But at the start in Marseilles, there was a group of 32, and we obviously could not make a movie with 32 characters. We thus created 10 characters around which we built short stories."

Release

The Marchers had theatrical showings in North America as part of the Rendez-vous with French Cinema series 2014 program.

Reception

Boyd van Hoeij of The Hollywood Reporter said "[t]he film’s message of equality is loud and sincere but Yadir, here directing his second feature, struggles to maintain a workable entente between the downbeat story [...] with misplaced-feeling broad humor."

Peter Debruge of Variety called it "uplifting story of racial tolerance [which] should travel well."

Le Parisien gave it a positive review.