Immigrant tale ‘Souleymane’ is flawed but powerful
We unfortunately live in a time when the villainization of “the other” is not only condoned, it’s propagated by political leaders whose selective amnesia has caused them to forget their ancestors were once immigrants themselves. Perhaps that’s what renders “Souleymane’s Story” so poignant and timely.
The film introduces us to Souleymane Sangaré, a wide-eyed young man who miraculously survived the arduous journey from Guinea-Conakry to Paris. The irony is that the fear and oppression he fled exists here (in a different but no less intense form) in a supposed land of opportunity, where he – and others like him – are preyed upon by unscrupulous schemers eager to profit off the desperate and destitute.
Putting the “soul” in Souleymane is Caesar Award-winner Abou Sangaré, himself an émigré from Guinea-Conakry who’d never acted before. But you’d never suspect, given the depth of feeling he brings to a role that hinges entirely on his ability to evoke empathy. Your heart repeatedly breaks for his Souleymane, as he negotiates an obstacle course of bureaucracy and predators all impeding him and his dream of a better life.
We meet him at a most consequential time, entering the ironically titled French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons in hopes of being granted asylum. The first thing you notice about Souleymane is a face that looks like it went 12 rounds with Mohammad Ali the previous night. As he finds his way to the office of his caseworker (Nina Meurisse), we suddenly flash back a couple of days, providing writer-director Boris Lojkine the opportunity to present a slice of Souleymane’s new life and explain what led to that battered face.
That chronicle begins with camera operator Tristan Galand zipping along behind Souleymane as he races through the busy thoroughfares of Paris astride his delivery bike. It’s not a proper job, but one that’s “rented” to him by fellow courier, Emmanuel (Emmanuel Yovanie), a smarmy sort who pays Souleymane a mere pittance of what he collects for each drop-off. In fact, Souleymane’s earnings are so meager that he’s forced to stay overnight in a variety of homeless shelters. Miss the bus to the facility, and he has no choice but to sleep outdoors in the cold.
What little cash he has largely goes to Barry (Alpha Oumar Sow), the huckster who affords Souleymane an array of forged documents and a made-up story of a perilous journey “certain” to help him plead his asylum case. He also coaches Souleymane on how to sell this fabricated tale of woe to the caseworker. “It has to sound like your life experience,” he urges. “Go into detail because details count.”
The problem is that Souleymane cannot lie. Not convincingly, anyway. Just ask his girlfriend, Kadiatou (Keita Diallo), back in Guinea, anxiously waiting – seemingly forever – to join her man in Paris once he’s set up with a job and an apartment. She knows he’s insincere when, during one of their regular FaceTime chats, he tells her that she should forget him and accept the proposal of an engineer she does not love.
Sad circumstances, but I was more fixed on how Souleymane, in such financial straits, could afford a cellphone and pay a provider. I also found Lojkine’s criticism of the exploitative nature of the gig economy inferior to that depicted more solidly by Ken Loach in his fabulous 2020 film, “Sorry We Missed You.” That, and a repetitive tendency of Lojkine and his co-writer, Delphine Agut, when it comes to demonstrating the unfairness of a broken, outdated system, and you have a film that tends to drag, even at a compact 90 minutes.
Lojkine apparently is aware of such liabilities, as evidenced by his fondness for creating kinetic situations in which Souleymane must race to a delivery or to catch a bus or subway, always running, seldom if ever stopping. It’s heart-pounding, but much of that time might have been better used exploring why guys like Barry and Emmanuel chose to abuse rather than aid their fellow immigrants.
Still, you cannot dismiss the power of a story that is not unique to Souleymane. There are a million others like it unfolding each day in an increasingly cruel world where “Love thy fellow neighbor” has become nothing but a meaningless platitude. I doubt one tiny indie drama will change that, but it’s a good start.
Movie review
Souleymane’s Story
Rated: Not rated
Cast: Abou Sangaré, Alpha Oumar Sow, Emmanuel Yovanie and Keita Diallo
Director: Boris Lojkine
Writers: Boris Lojkine and Delphine Agut
Runtime: 92 minutes
Where: Currently in limited release before expanding Aug. 15
Grade: B-
