Director, producer, and screen-writer Alexandre Arcady, born in 1947 in Algiers, has dedicated his life’s work to the theater and film. Getting his start as director of the Theater of Suresnes, France, he then launched his career in cinema, producing a film by his wife, Diane Kurys called Diabolo Menthe, a story about adolescence.
In 1979 he directed his first feature length film, Le Coup de Sirocco, the first of a successful trilogy, followed by Le Grand Pardon I and Le Grand Pardon II. In Le Coup de Sirocco with Roger Hanin and Patrick Bruel, we see a film whose inspiration is a very personal one, about the immigration of the lower-middle class “pied-noir” (black feet, the name given to Algerians of European origin) at the time of repatriation (after the independence of Algeria in 1962). On the other hand, Le Grand Pardon takes us into the heart of the Jewish mafia. As he comes from a family that was “repatriated” to France from Algeria, he has strong ties to his roots as… read more
Director, producer, and screen-writer Alexandre Arcady, born in 1947 in Algiers, has dedicated his life’s work to the theater and film. Getting his start as director of the Theater of Suresnes, France, he then launched his career in cinema, producing a film by his wife, Diane Kurys called Diabolo Menthe, a story about adolescence.
In 1979 he directed his first feature length film, Le Coup de Sirocco, the first of a successful trilogy, followed by Le Grand Pardon I and Le Grand Pardon II. In Le Coup de Sirocco with Roger Hanin and Patrick Bruel, we see a film whose inspiration is a very personal one, about the immigration of the lower-middle class “pied-noir” (black feet, the name given to Algerians of European origin) at the time of repatriation (after the independence of Algeria in 1962). On the other hand, Le Grand Pardon takes us into the heart of the Jewish mafia. As he comes from a family that was “repatriated” to France from Algeria, he has strong ties to his roots as well as to the exiled Jewish community. It is from this that he drew his inspiration as well, when he directed Le Grand Carnaval, followed by Dernier Eté à Tanger, two feature length films in which the action takes place during the Allied landing in North Africa.
On the lighter side, Alexandre Arcady has also written such romantic comedies as Dis Moi Oui, Mariage Mixte, as well as Tu Peux Garder Un Secret. He has also directed such thrillers as L’Union Sacrée, and Entre Chiens et Loups.
With his latest film, Comme Les 5 Doigts de la Main we see Alexandre Arcady again drawing inspiration from his past. —infrenchwithenglishsubtitles.com
