Karim Dridi celebrates marginality in a moving road movie

The filmmaker pays homage to the “invisibles”, following two inseparable friends who follow their path in search of parties, meetings and freedom. Essential.

Between documentary and fiction, signature of the director of Bye, Lazy people, released in theaters on May 29, is a road trip that pays tribute to all people who choose freedom. Karim Dridi’s view of those we call the marginalized is empathetic.

Nina and Djoul, inseparable friends, are evicted from their squat in Brittany. Aboard their old, dilapidated truck, they make their way south. Lazyis a film about “the toothless”, those who don’t count or very little, the “less than nothing”, the “dog punks”, the homeless, the wretched of the earth… All those who are judged as lazy.

“Nobody wanted to finance a film about these people. Just the fact of making this film is already subversion. It is an artistic gesture of survival, of resistance. It is an act of thought. It is vital. Because the opposite of subversion is resignation.” confides the director.

To make this film, the filmmaker immersed himself in this universe for several years. From this immersion was born a luminous and dark work, a road movie of two exceptional women who build themselves through encounter and confrontation. Powerful, free, dignified, they assume their way of life.

The opening scene sets the tone. The camera is taken into the police truck where the two heroines are locked up. On their way, Nina and Djoul go towards each other, meeting more and more. Like the sunny, moving one of an old lady who refuses to return to the nursing home. “Please, not the nursing home, I beg you, I want to die alive.”

The trip shows a France that disappears from the radar, that of people who scavenge supermarkets or who eke out a living in squats. One and the other. The two friends find themselves working in the vineyards. And Nina meets a man.

The sisterhood is shattered. Argument and separation. What is the nature of Djoul’s feelings for Nina? Friendship ? Love ? Both ? The filmmaker leaves the viewer free to interpret. The main thing is elsewhere.

The actresses Faddo Jullian and .jU., friends in life, are overwhelming. They have an impressive presence. The epic reunion scene between the two friends is unforgettable. The title, ironic, should be taken in the second degree. Because for lazy people, Nina and Djoul, in particular, work a lot. They just refuse to settle down and prefer to chart their course even if the price of freedom turns out to be very high.

Lazy is closer to the universe of Ken Loach than to Thelma and Louise. Lazy people, a movie authentic, tender and violent about friendship, sisterhood and freedom. Dazzling.

Title : Lazy

Realization : Karim Dridi

Scenario : Karim Dridi, Emma Soisson

Distribution : Faddo Jullian, .jU., Odette Simoneau

Theatrical release: May 29

Synopsis: Nina and Djoul, inseparable friends, are evicted from their squat. They then hit the road again aboard their old truck with a thirst for freedom and a single obsession: partying. Impromptu meetings, seasonal work, concerts, joyful subversions, a few troubles but above all a lot of adventures now punctuate the nomadic life of these two friends.