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The Clan

Play trailer The Clan Released Sep 2, 2005 1h 28m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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41% Tomatometer 17 Reviews 60% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Following the death of his mother, Marc (Nicolas Cazalé) becomes embedded in France's criminal underworld, getting caught up in drugs and the risky deals that go along with them. His older brother, Christophe (Stéphane Rideau), on the other hand, has just been released from prison and makes a go of living the straight life by taking a job at a pork factory. Meanwhile, youngest brother Olivier (Thomas Dumerchez) deals with his grief by falling for Marc's friend Hicham (Salim Kechiouche).

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The Clan

Critics Reviews

View All (17) Critics Reviews
Ed Gonzalez Slant Magazine Rumble Fish as directed by Franois Ozon. Rated: 2.5/4 Dec 17, 2005 Full Review V.A. Musetto New York Post Rated: 1/4 Dec 6, 2005 Full Review Neva Chonin San Francisco Chronicle A luscious yet ultimately empty film. Rated: 1/4 Oct 7, 2005 Full Review David Lamble Bay Area Reporter Alas, not even a dozen of France's sexiest screen gods can save Three Dancing Slaves from drowning in its bad intentions. May 9, 2020 Full Review Jay Richardson The List Director Gaël Morel seems content to let everything drift along in a lyrically dreamy manner, offering a linger shot of a toned torso every two minutes. That the film retains any interest at all is entirely due to the performances. Rated: 3/5 Apr 26, 2019 Full Review Brandon Judell HuffPost It's just a bunch of rough-and-tumble Abercrombie and Finch models trying to find love, survive, sell drugs, kill a dog, or come out of the closet. Jun 14, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (40) audience reviews
Audience Member Wonderful, amazing story. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Interesting French movie about three working-class brothers living in Annecy. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member An abrupt weird ending left me wanting an ending with more storyline closer. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member I just happened to stumble Three Dancing Slaves after being in the mood to hear some people speak the French language, so I thought: why not? And so, I went into watching this movie without any expectations about acting, or storytelling, or anything at all. I only knew that the movie centred around three brothers and their difficult lives they have to deal with. And while that is by no means an original concept, if done right, then brilliance comes out of it. There could be some great drama, acting, grit, and anything else that could be listed. Although, there was some grit and realism to it, as well as good acting, positive points don't run further than that. The plot unfolds well enough for a coherent film and to develop characters, which Three Dancing Slaves does pretty well, but what I had a problem with were the stories. Being a coming of age story, it's hard to create something new to this genre of film. There's a formula at work even before the viewing of the final cut. We have assumptions. And usually those assumptions are correct. Marc's section is a good opening 30 or so minutes. It establishes everything we need to know about the boys and their situation well. And we get to know how much an ass Marc can be. Is it he fault? Probably. Is he influenced by his environment? Most definitely. Marc is the 'problem child' as they say. He's the wild one, the one that is unpredictable and has chaos following along at his tail. Overall, I think Marc's section was pretty alright. Nicolas Cazale plays crazy/uncontrollable well and it's a good set up into the next two stories. It kind of oversells that Marc is an untamed fellow, and the overemphasis of this is a little redundant and unnecessary. We're fed that he has a lot of conflict with others around him, as well as his inner struggles, but enough is enough really. His story though, is quite interesting. Then comes Christophe, the eldest brother; the collected one, the one who's the foundation of the family, and he's come straight out of jail. If that's not a worn cliché... Anyway, the middle of the movie is usually where you can find the movie drag. The setup and end are more action-centred--although all parts of a movie should be interesting. Unfortunately, Christophe's third drags quite a bit. Here, more of the family dynamics are explored. Their father, which we already knew from Marc, does not have the family in his control, and we see Christophe becoming the new alpha in the household. Sound familiar? While acting still is strong, nothing new is being added as a whole. Then we get to the youngest brother, Olivier. Here, things start to get better. Olive, as Marc calls him, is able to converge the tenacity and audacity of Marc, and the sternness and severity Christophe to a nice emotionally filled point. The softer side of the movie is shown in the last piece and it's nice. While Marc had to face unruly drug dealers, and Christophe dealt with the start of him becoming a family man, Olivier concludes us with a love-centric story. Again, it's nothing new, but after having to deal with the overly-zany Marc, and the authoritarian-esque Christophe, having an emotive, docile character thrown in is well-welcomed. We find that all brothers are opposites, all acting and living in their own microcosms. They cope with their hardships differently, sometimes ending in a disaster, other times there is hope. Slaves depicts, what I assume is, a realistic portrayal of the hard times some families may actually have to deal with excellently. It features some good acting from the three leads, but that's about it. I give it a 4.5/10. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member I wanted to see this movie for a long long time and I was not disappointed. I am really a big fan of director Gael Morel. Some very raw scenes be warned !!!! The only thing I hated was the ending I would love to have seen why brother Olivier choose to break up with Harim and choose another..... Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Three pretty boys work out their angst against a backdrop of violence and drugs and lost shirts. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Clan

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Following the death of his mother, Marc (Nicolas Cazalé) becomes embedded in France's criminal underworld, getting caught up in drugs and the risky deals that go along with them. His older brother, Christophe (Stéphane Rideau), on the other hand, has just been released from prison and makes a go of living the straight life by taking a job at a pork factory. Meanwhile, youngest brother Olivier (Thomas Dumerchez) deals with his grief by falling for Marc's friend Hicham (Salim Kechiouche).
Director
Gaël Morel
Producer
Philippe Jacquier
Screenwriter
Christophe Honoré, Gaël Morel
Distributor
TLA Releasing
Production Co
Sépia Productions
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Canadian French
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 2, 2005, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 27, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$21.6K
Runtime
1h 28m
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