Io sono tuo padre

When you watch this movie, you of course think of Rachid Bouchareb's cinema, his movies HORS LA LOI and INDIGENES are totally in the line of this one. A great tribute to African or North African men who fought and die for many of them for the sake of France. Omar Sy is the actor that no director can avoid for such topics, especially with a big budget. It is moving, poignant but it was made to be this way. It could not be shown as a comedy or light hearted story. It's good to tell such fates, show how things were during WW1 for those Africans who gave their life for France, how they were used, sacrified.... It can be seen as an anti war feature but that's not PATHS OF GLORY either.

Set in Senegal in 1917, the story follows Bakary (Omar Sy) and his son Thierno (Alassane Diong) , who are forced to fight on the French side during the First World War. They have no alternative, because the French have guns and they don't and although they try to escape, they are captured and taken to the front of the war.

The director of photography for Untouchables by Eric Toledano and Oliver Nakache, Mathieu Vadepied, and one of its iconic protagonists, Omar Sy, come together again in this war drama set during World War I, in which a father enlists himself in the French Army in order to be with his 17-year-old son who was recruited against his will. Sent to the front, they find themselves facing the war together in the French colony of Senegal during WWI , when all they want is to return home. The film led the French box office for its first four weeks in theaters. There are combats, few and limited, and intense drama, which begins as a critique of colonialism and ends as patriotic glorification. The picture has the merit of constructing an anti-war discourse with transparency and simplicity. But there is no a specific description of the battles, denouncing the forced recruitment of the Africans on the French front and the useless heroism displayed by the not very patriotic soldiers, but especially highlighting the sacrifice and obstinacy of a good father who wants to save his son at any cost, as he attempts to protect, save and rescue him at any price and even his own. Apparently, it carries out a revision of the French colonial past, but the film can be considered as an ambiguous revision that ends in the most dull and ordinary patriotism. Director Mathieu Vadepied met actor Omar Sy during the filming of Intocable (2011), where he was the director of photography. The main star is Omar Sy, who holds up with his charisma; Sy was attached to star in Tirailleurs (2022) for years during development, until he became too old to play the role of the son, and thought about just producing and not starring. Sy is building a French and nternational career including successful films, such as X-Men: Days of Future Past , Jurassic World, Jurassic world: dominion, The Call of the Wild, Le flic de Belleville, Tansformers: The last Knight, Untouchables, and several others.

The film was professionally -but slowly- directed by Mathieu Vadepied. The movie had its world premiere at the 75th Cannes Film Festival as the opening film in the "Un Certain Regard" section on 18 May 2022 Cannes Film Festival and Nominated Un Certain Regard Award: Mathieu Vadepied and Barcelona-Sant Jordi International Film Festival winner Best Actor Omar Sy . Mathieu Vadepied is a good craftsman, a cameraman, production designer and director, being known for La vie en grand, En Thérapie, Sur mes lèvres, Untouchables, among others. Rating: 6/10. For anti-war activists fascinated by the strange beauty of war in cinema.

Father & soldier is a linear and no-nonsense film, which radically positions itself "AGAINST" - war, blind obedience to orders, colonialism, the exploitation of men by other men, military and political rhetoric - which makes it actual. The direct comparison between these issues and that atavistic African wisdom that knows how to recognize and defend what is truly important - to be united, to protect one's family, to lead one's life with dignity and respect - is striking. 1917, Senegal. The French army kidnaps young people from villages to forcefully enlist them and send them to fight in the Great War. Bakary would like to protect his son Thierno but fails to free him from the French colonial gang and to stay close to him he in turn enlists and sends him to the same African platoon. Mathieu Vadepied, the director and writer, adheres to his characters and throws them into a story that seems to be developing by the minute. Omar Sy plays the role of Bakary dusting off the Fula language of his origins and takes the risk of losing the immense popularity he has in France to rigorously criticize the French colonial policy and the enormous hypocrisies in the management of the relationship with African immigrants. Father & soldier is a film of few words and few events necessary to illustrate the parable of Thierno, torn between love for his father and the desire to emancipate himself from his authority in order to become a man finally. Even the seduction of the army's promises to guarantee French citizenship to the colonized African soldiers, once the war is won, refers to current events and how African immigrants look at integration in their host country with a mixture of desire and mistrust.

The Senegalese Tirailleurs fought with distinction in both world wars. They were often involved in the bloodiest battles of the Great War. This film had real potential to showcase their heroic feats but unfortunately our protagonist was a deserter desperate to incite others to escape with him and undermine their officer's authority.

Whilst I agree desertion happened frequently across the front, this shouldn't have been the plot for the one rare instance we get a film about such a little known and decorated military formation...

I hope this film encourages other Directors to create more films about the Colonial units that fought in both wars. Their sacrifices often overlooked and / or forgotten.

Tirailleurs visits an often forgotten part of WWI : the fate of the African men who were kidnapped and forced to fight for the west. The premise promises to be heart-breaking, certainly, but the film adds poetry and humanity to this dark chapter in history.

Omar Sy and Alassane Diong act brilliantly as a father and son duo, making conflicting choices in a tragic situation. The film explores the many (sometimes contradicting) ways in which one can be brave; it's a story about the meaning of moral integrity and the will to survive, wether physically or in memory.

As per usual in french cinema, the movie is slow, and the themes are subtle. One has to contemplate, more than just watch. However, I do think it remains accessible to the general public, as long as you expect a drama rather than an action-packed experience. Maybe not a fun movie, but an important one.