| The Snows of Kilimanjaro | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Robert Guédiguian |
| Written by | Robert Guédiguian Jean-Louis Milesi Victor Hugo Les pauvres gens[1] |
| Starring | Ariane Ascaride Jean-Pierre Darroussin Gérard Meylan |
| Cinematography | Pierre Milon |
| Editing by | Bernard Sasia |
| Release date(s) | 14 May 2011 (Cannes) |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
The Snows of Kilimanjaro (French: Les Neiges du Kilimandjaro) is a 2011 French drama film directed by Robert Guédiguian. It premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.[2][3]
Contents |
The story, written by director Robert Guédiguian and Jean-Louis Milesi, is inspired by a poem by Victor Hugo entitled Les pauvres gens (meaning The poor people) taken from Hugo's book La Légende des siècles.
Michel (Jean-Pierre Darroussin), lives happily with his wife Marie-Claire (Ariane Ascaride) since 30 years. An avowed trade unionist with General Confederation of Labour (CGT), he is hit by hard times and, as a result of a random laying off, is loses his job alongside 20 other employees.
His colleagues organize a party for his 30th marriage anniversary and offer them some money and a ticket to Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and sing to him the famous song by Pascal Danel entitled Kilimandjaro also known as "Les Neiges du Kilimandjaro" (thus the title of the film).
Before they are able to go on vacation, they are brutally robbed while being visited by Raoul (Gérard Meylan) his closest colleague at work and his wife Denise (Marilyne Canto). Michel is injured because of brutality of the attack and Denise develops serious psychological problems.
Michel accidentally discovers two children on the bus reading a comic book the robber had stolen, and thus finds one of the culprits, his their older brother Christophe (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet) who had been discharged by the company alongside Michel. Slowly Michel and his sympathetic wife discover that Christophe comes from a broken family, and is the one taking care of the two young boys as an absent mother has abandoned them for years. Michel has second thoughts and wants to withdraw his law suit, but the case goes on regardless. So to ease his conscience he decides to take care of the children until the brother is released from jail after a long sentence.