Une vie meilleure (2011)

Director:

Cédric Kahn

Writers:

Catherine Paillé (scenario) &
Cédric Kahn (scenario)

Release Date:

18 November 2011 (Canada)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Restaurant | Debt | Lack Of Money | Letter | Burdened By Debt

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Guillaume Canet	...	Yann
Leïla Bekhti	...	Nadia
Slimane Khettabi	...	Slimane
Abraham Belaga	...	Le marchand de sommeil
Nicolas Abraham	...	L'entrepreneur
François Favrat	...	Le banquier
Brigitte Sy	...	La femme bénévole surendettement
Fayçal Safi	...	L'acolyte du marchand de sommeil
Annabelle Lengronne	...	La voisine de Yann
Valérie Even	...	La femme du restaurant en Vendée
Daria Kapralska	...	La fille du restaurant en Vendée
Yann Andrieu	...	Le copain en Vendée
Atika Taoualit	...	L'assistance sociale au Collège
Arnaud Ducret	...	Patron Nadia
Adou Khan	...	Vigile magasin chaussures de sport
Serkan Oba	...	Homme cantine
Alimata Camara	...	Femme cantine
Fatsah Bouyahmed	...	Intendant cantine
Michèle Durepairt	...	Vendeuse de crêpes
Philippe Viaud	...	Le marin pêcheur
Philippe Tlokinski	...	Gars bar Vendée 1
Florian Westerhoff	...	Gars bar Vendée 2
Jeremias Nussbaum	...	Gars bar Vendée 3
Sekou Kone	...	Voisin Yann
Julien Lucas	...	Nouveau gérant
Andrew Isar	...	Policier aéroport
Mélissa Magana	...	Fille Consuelo
Ana Aguilar	...	Consuelo
Guy F. Pilotte	...	Chauffeur autobus
Claudia Jurt	...	Gardienne de prison
Dan Demarbre	...	Gardien de prison
Marilyn Schiavo	...	Femme chambre d'hôte
Sheryl Scott	...	Patronne snack-bar
Jimmy Kolios	...	Patron restaurant
Xavier Lièvre
Camélia Roidot
Baptiste Lamaison
Naym Bani
Olivia Mabounga
Nastasia Berrezaie
Laurentine Milebo
Jackson Silverio
Daniel Brunelle
Yvonne Jeffrey
Maria Eugenia Betancur
Jordan Esteban Rodriguez
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Line Boutin	...	Passagère dans l'autobus (uncredited)
Paul Finnigan	...	Avocat (uncredited)

Directed by
Cédric Kahn

Writing credits
Catherine Paillé		(scenario) &
Cédric Kahn		(scenario)

Produced by
Kristina Larsen	....	producer
Daniel Louis	....	producer
Denise Robert	....	producer
Gilles Sandoz	....	producer

Original Music by
Akido

Cinematography by
Pascal Marti		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Simon Jacquet

Art Direction by
Olivier Puyrenier

Set Decoration by
Sabine Delouvrier
Patrick Gilbert

Production Management
Capucine Grelardon	....	assistant unit manager
Anaïs Subra	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Denis Kralj	....	assistant director: location
Matthieu Röhrer	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Marc Jeannel	....	carpenter
Léa Philippon	....	set designer

Sound Department
Sylvain Bellemare	....	sound designer
Damien Boitel	....	assistant sound editor
Jocelyn Caron	....	foley recordist
Olivier Dô Hùu	....	sound re-recording mixer
Sylvie Fortin	....	adr editor
Marie-Christine Hébert	....	foley assistant
Alain Lévy	....	post-synchronisation
Olivier Mauvezin	....	sound
Antoine Mercier	....	sound assistant
Fanny Weinzaepflen	....	boom operator: post-synchronisation

Special Effects by
Max Garnier	....	special effects technician
François Philippi	....	special effects supervisor
Charles-Axel Vollard	....	special effects technician

Stunts
Michel Carliez	....	stunt and fight coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Mathieu Caudroy	....	steadicam operator
Daniel Chrétien Jr.	....	best boy electric: Montreal
Daniel Chrétien	....	gaffer: Montreal
Baptiste Imbert	....	electrician
Giovanni Quéné	....	grip
Jan Thijs	....	still photographer

Editorial Department
David Magalhaes	....	telecine dailies colorist

Other crew
Thierry Desjours	....	financial manager
Charles-Edouard Renault	....	legal counsel

Production Companies

• Les Films du Lendemain
• Cinémaginaire Inc. (co-production)
• Maia Cinema (co-production)
• Mars Distribution (co-production) (as Mars Films)
• France 2 Cinéma (co-production)
• France Télévision (participation)
• Canal+ (participation)
• Ciné+ (participation)
• Région Ile-de-France (support)
• Centre Images - Région Centre (support)
• Procirep (support)
• Soficinéma 7 Développement (in association with)
• Soficinéma 7 (in association with)
• Banque Postale Image 4 (in association with)
• Sofica Manon (in association with)
• Cinémage 5 (in association with)
• Téléfilm Canada (financial support)
• Société de Développement des Entreprises Culturelles (SODEC) (financial support)

Distributors

• Alliance Films (2011) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Mars Distribution (2012) (France) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

"A Better Life" - Canada (English title) (festival title)

Runtime:

France:110 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color (35 mm version)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

France:U

Company:

Les Films du Lendemain

struggling with poverty and adversity

Yann Laurent (brilliant performance by Guillaume Canet at his best) is working as a cook in a catering facility and aspires to get a better job as a chef in a restaurant. He meets Nadia, a young waitress, single mother of a 9.5 years old boy named Slimane. They fall in love; then during a day off near a lake, they encounter a closed mansion. With not much preparation, and lack of cash, they buy the place in the aim of opening their restaurant. What begins as a dram will turn out as a nightmare. After works being made to fix the place, authorities do not allow the opening for non compliance to regulations. The downward spiral begins, as they lied to the bank to get the loan (their initial cash was actually borrowed with high interest rates in many loans different companies). Nadia is offered by her boss to go work abroad in Canada. Shes asks Yann to keep her son for a supposedly short period of time, the time she sorts things out. But the situation for all characters seems to get worse and worse on the material level... Slimane's mother left, but he might have found a father... Overall, a film of quality, quite sad, but full of life. The harshness of times of crisis, when the poor people get desperate.