“Bac Nord”, the second biggest French success of the year at the cinema, has just passed 2 million admissions. On this occasion, its director Cédric Jimenez looks back on this surprise success and the political recovery of which the film is the subject.
Kaamelott, Bac Nord and OSS 117: Red alert in black Africa. These are the three French films having, to date, gathered the most spectators at the cinema this year.
Bac Nord stands out in this trio, being neither of the comedy genre, nor taken from a franchise identified by the spectators. Cédric Jimenez’s film, adapted from a true story, has just crossed the symbolic bar of 2 million admissions, and continues to gain new spectators since its release this summer.
Bac Nord: the true story of the police scandal that inspired Cédric Jimenez’s film
He was also among the finalists to represent France at the Oscars. It is ultimately Titane who will be the French candidate.
Thanks to this news, Le Parisien met Cédric Jimenez, who is currently working on a new film around the attacks of November 13. The daily questioned him in particular about the political recovery of which Bac Nord is subject, recovery that the filmmaker regrets.
“The political recovery is deplorable and, unfortunately, we suffer it. Zemmour and Le Pen distort the purpose of the film, they make lamentable shortcuts. I did not do an X-ray of the northern districts of Marseille, I showed the city in a very particular context.
I chose to make a film from the perspective of these three BAC cops. What I wanted to tell is how individuals found themselves crushed by the machine. This is the theme of all my films.“
Cédric Jimenez also gives details on the context in which the film is released. “We shot in the summer of 2019. The film was postponed several times because of the Covid, but we were due to be released in October 2020, before the presidential pre-campaign, before the events of this summer and even before the trial of the real police officers of the BAC. “
Cédric Jimenez indicates on this occasion, that he “accepts criticism“that he”don’t vote on the right“and evokes his family. And to add:”Journalists have the right to see things that I didn’t want to convey“.
For the record, the history of Bac Nord takes place in 2012. The northern districts of Marseille hold a sad record: the area with the highest crime rate in France. Pushed by its hierarchy, the North BAC, a field brigade, constantly seeks to improve its results. In a high-risk sector, the cops adapt their methods, sometimes crossing the yellow line. Until the day when the legal system turns against them …
Bac Nord: how François Civil found his character
