CRITICISM / FILM OPINION – Freely inspired by the Mehdi Meklat affair, “Arthur Rambo” tells the brutal fall of a writer on the rise. A promising subject is supposed to raise many questions, which fade because of overexplanatory dialogues.
Arthur Rambo: the two facets of a brilliant writer
With Arthur Rambo, Laurent Cantet is inspired by the Mehdi Meklat case. In 2017, this increasingly successful writer, co-author of the works burn out and Minute with Badroudine Saïd Abdallah finds himself at the heart of a controversy when his homophobic, racist, Islamophobic, misogynistic or anti-Semitic tweets signed under the pseudonym of Marcelin Deschamps resurface.
In the feature film, Karim D. is also a rising figure in literature. In full promotion of his novel entitled The Landing, which traces the life of his mother, this young author goes to the party organized by his publishing house for the release of the book. As the evening progresses, notifications start raining down on her phone.
Old tweets he posted under the pseudonym Arthur Rambo are massively taken up. In a flash, Karim passes from the status of the promising novelist to that of pariah. Dropped by his publisher, by many acquaintances but also by most of his relatives, he finds himself isolated and does not know how to react. Should we assume these odious remarks or apologize for having created this “fictitious” evil double? Should we speak publicly or flee to fall back into oblivion?
A breathtaking fall
With Arthur, RamboLaurent Cantet is positioned at the very thin border between documentary and fiction as he had done on Between the walls. The film imposes itself as the portrait of an unfathomable being, who himself does not understand the true nature of his writings. The camera sticks to this character almost in every shot, embarked on a suffocating spiral.
The filmmaker’s device works wonderfully in the introduction, which transcribes the effervescence of success. Karim participates in a specialized and renowned television program, before going to a party given in his honor. His talent is praised, his name is on everyone’s lips, all eyes are on him. Suddenly, he is no longer the attraction but the fairground beast.
A colleague had just warned him about the potential reversals of jackets. The feature film points to the hypocrisy of those around him but does not make Karim D. a martyr. By embedding provocative tweets of incredible violence, he questions the intentions of the writer, creator of a monster supposed to help him breakthrough but which ended up escaping him.
Witnessing the collapse of a character is often fascinating in the cinema. This is the case in Arthur Rambowhich enters enigmatic intimacy of the protagonist, in his paradoxes and growing loneliness. An exercise that owes a lot to the interpretation of Rabah Naït Oufella, perfectly ambiguous.
A fading rhythm
During a dialogue during which Karim explains himself with his publishing house, he argues that art does not have to be polished. Arthur Rambo is unfortunately too polite. The film certainly raises moral questions about freedom of expression, the horror of the protagonist’s tweets, and the speed at which he becomes infrequent without having spoken. But he forgets along the way what he was doing so well in his first half-hour: questioning through silence and staging.
Quickly, situations where the characters explain what the spectator sees on the screen come to seal the feature film. Moreover, the verbose rantings pointing to the consequences of Karim’s acts follow one another excessively.
Laurent Cantet refuses to take sides. As soon as the spectator understands this desire, the many speeches idle in repetitive scenes. No longer evolving until the end, Karim then becomes the witness of the opinions on his controversy.
Nevertheless remains the poignant appearance of Anne Alvaro, which brings precisely the silences and the reflection that the story needs. Karim’s model, the writer she embodies reminds the young man of the essentials in a short scene. Arthur Rambo succeed to transcribe the speed of our time, as well as the vain side of the cacophony that characterizes it. A conscious choice, but which prevents Karim and the viewer from taking a step back, and the film from being the shock that its starting point gave hope.
