Why an Iraqi character?
I was interested in why the director choose to put an Iraqi character in the film. It's it some minority quota thing or what?
shareFor me the element of losing someone you love, or death in general was introduced again and again. Michel's wife who had died in a car accident and the Iraqi character's family who were obviously killed in one of the wars in Iraq, the cop who shot himself in the head and of course Juliette's son, Pierre.
They were all senseless deaths that no one had control over. Things that happened, pain that was to be endured. I liked the contrast between the different circumstances, and yet they were all there - they all carried on. I guess the pain is universal, no matter where you come from, why it happened or how. That's my take on it anyhow.
i agree with you kiwi, it fitted in with the loss theme
shareThere's definitely the loss theme. I think it also fits with the theme of how society forms prejudices. They constantly refer to him as 'the Iraqi' & tease him bout being paid by Al-Qaeda, even though it's totally groundless and probably very offensive to someone who lost his family in the war. Even the thread starter's implication that the character is a "minority quota thing" shows how people jump to idiotic conclusions, targeting outsiders.
shareIf I understand correctly, France has a significant population of (non-European) immigrants - from North Africa and the middle East. So I took the Iraqi character as simply being a reflection of this reality of French society.
shareFrance has some immigration or descendant of immigrant from North Africa, but it's mostly from the former French colonies (Algeria, Moroco and Tunisia). There are obviously Iraqis as well, but they wouldn't be a representative minority.
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