This French detective film, inspired by a true story, sparked controversy when it was released in theaters in 2021, despite great success at the box office. It is now available on Netflix.
Even box office successes can spark controversy. The proof with this detective film released in 2021 which had more than 2.2 million admissions in France over 18 weeks of operation. Presented at Cannes, this feature film inspired by a true story, however, suffered several controversies. This film is released this week on Netflix.
If Bac Nord has been praised by critics for its staging and the performances of its actors, this feature film which follows an anti-crime brigade in Marseille, accused of corruption, has been criticized by certain press titles on the manner how the inhabitants of the Phocaean city were portrayed, and, more broadly, the way in which the suburbs are represented there.
The newspaper La Croix, which nevertheless found qualities in the film, for example deplored that this thriller "only shows the cities as lawless zones, places of all dangers": "It is a great shame that his film lacks so cruelly empathetic for its inhabitants, the first victims of the violence committed there.
Even before the release of Bac Nord on screens, the film had been talked about. While the feature film was presented at the Cannes Film Festival, a journalist sparked laughter from the team in the middle of a press conference when he indicated that, in his opinion, the film encouraged people to vote for the far right. The reason ? Bac Nord gives an empathetic vision of the police officers involved and presents the residents of the cities as “beasts”.
“I don’t think the film is there to denounce areas of lawlessness and to stir up anger,” replied director Cédric Jimenez. "On the contrary. I tell the story of anger because I chose the point of view of the police." However, Bac Nord was politically appropriated by the far right when it was released a few weeks later. Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour invited the public to see the film and did not fail to praise its content.
In response, the director denounced a "pure political recovery" while recalling that the film relates "a police case" and not life in the cities. Cédric Jimenez also said he was "embarrassed" when the film was screened by the Alliance police union before a meeting with candidates for the 2022 presidential election: "It's disturbing, it bothers me a lot, because “a film remains a cinematographic work and it cannot become a political object,” the director reacted to France Inter. It's up to Netflix subscribers to form their own opinion from May 7.
