The Multicultural Urban Space of the cinéma de banlieue

Krzysztof LOSKA

Abstract

The controversy over the advantages and disadvantages of the policy of multiculturalism has been ongoing since the 1980’s. Simultaneously the growing social mobility and migration movements in today’s Europe are accompanied by a crisis of the nation-state, or rather, as Patrick Savidan suggests, by a gradual transformation of the political project characteristic of the past aimed at strengthening the processes of social integration.

The identities of different ethnic and national groups are being shaped either by dialogue or by confrontation: members of various minorities demand respect (as understood by Charles Taylor) not only in the personal sphere, but also in the public one. A good reflection of the debates on multiculturalism is offered by contemporary French cinema, which, in particular in the films directed by representatives of ethnic minorities, discusses the burning issues of integration, racism, and the heritage of the colonial past. The film art of the cinéma de banlieue responds this way to the current political situation, to the deepening social inequalities and to the alienation of the young generation. Social exclusion, or marginalization, accompanied by the feeling of helplessness, are depicted as forms of oppression in films directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, Jean-François Richet, Thomas Gilou, and Malik Chibane. They frequently use spatial metaphors which turn out particularly relevant in showing problems related to exclusion.

Translated by Dorota Chabrajska