Dir: Stéphane Demoustier | Cast: Claes Bang, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Xavier Dolan, Swann Arlaud | France, Drama 101′
The devil is in the detail
It’s 1983. An architect who loves modern churches and has designed four of them wins a big competition in the centre of Paris. It will be the death of him, according to this classically told arthouse drama from Stephane Demoustier (brother of Anais).
‘La Grande Arche de la Defense’ was set to be the flagship of Francois Mitterand’s term in office. And the Danes are well known for their design precision and flair. So who better to create this strategic building set to align the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe but 53 year old Dane, Johan Otto von Spreckelsen (1929-87), a relatively unknown architect from Viborg.
Claes Bang, speaking fluent French, plays him with suave conviction alongside the french-speaking Sidse Babett Knudsen his sharp and discerning French-speaking wife. Swann Arlaud plays the French architect Paul Andreu (who designed the Charles de Gaulle airport), and Xavier Dolan, the unlikeable official Subilon determined to stick to the ‘rules’.
For his fifth feature, Demoustier adapts Laurence Cossé’s 2016 novel to direct The Great Arch one of those arthouse films that’s both gripping and highly intelligent. Crucially Demoustier doesn’t shy away from the intricacies of the subject while offering a deeply affecting expose of a man whose creative dream – his life’s work -was thwarted by infighting and officialdom.
Predictably, artistic differences soon derail the project because the Danish architect is simply not satisfied with inferior quality of the craftsmanship offered by the French contractor Bouygues, but, of course, the French insist on using their own contractor, rather than a Danish one who can deliver the requisite precision. And to make matters worse French bureaucracy stands in the way of a perfect solution especially when Mitterand, who supports von Spreckelsen, loses the election and finance minister Alain Juppé takes over.
There are echoes of Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist but the focus here is the struggle between the architect’s creative vision and detail for his ‘cube’ and naturally his desire to serve the wishes of his client Mitterand (whose sensitivity stands out in Michel Fau’s thoughtful turn), and the government’s rush to complete a building, that will stand for the rest of time, as soon as possible and to a tighter budget than originally agreed. But then Mitterand loses the reigns of power and the incoming government put forward other plans for the famous cube.
A engrossing film that exposes government red tape and strictures at its most intractable – and well done to a French man for bringing the lesser known facts of the case to a wider audience in this tribute to pioneer of Danish design and vision. @MeredithTaylor
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