Les neiges du Kilimandjaro

We don't get to see much of the snow of Kilimandjaro but it plays a certain role in the film anyway.
This is not the film 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro' from 1952 with Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward and Ava Gardner but the one from 2011 directed by Robert Guédiguian.
It's inspired by a poem by Victor Hugo; 'Les pauvres gens' ('The Poor People'. Did he depict anything else but the poor and 'Miserables'?).

In the principal role as Michel we see Jean-Pierre Darrousin, as a man working in a factory and also being a fervent representative for the trade union. His married to Marie-Claire (Ariane Ascaride, in real life Guédiguian's wife) since 30 years.
Michel and 20 other workers loses their jobs when hard times hit the company and he is responsible for a sort of lottery system, where one randomly draw those who must leave the company.

After leaving his job, his colleagues organize a party to celebrate his and his wife's 30 years as a married couple and it's during this party Kilimandjaro becomes the topic. They have raised money and bought a ticket to Mount Kilimandjaro in Tanzania for the couple. They also sing a song by Pascal Danel called "Les Neiges du Kilimandjaro", thus the title of the film.
Up til this point, everything is fine but during an evening with their best friends Raoul (Gérard Meylan) and Denise (Marilyne Canto), playing bridge, some men burst into their apartment and brutally rob them of their money.
This traumatize not least Denise, who becomes psychologically unstable and insecure.
Some time after this, Michel discovers two children reading a rare comic book, also being stolen at the same time and by following them, he discovers that it leads him to their older brother, Christophe (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet), one of the workers being discharged the same day as Michel.
Now the film take another turn, as Michel is having feelings of guilt after having reported Christophe to the authorities, leading to his arrest and imprisonment. Raoul doesn't share his feelings, on the contrary, he thinks that Christophe has been mildly treatened. This is very understandable as the robbery made his wife become terrified, traumatized for life perhaps.
What bothers Michel's wife Marie-Claire, is the children, the two younger brothers of Christophe. Without knowing it, they both start to arrange for them.

Robert Guédiguian's film takes on questions about guilt and responsibility, of moral on different levels.
When the workers where dismissed this was done by drawing lots and even though Michel saw to that he himself became one of those having to leave the factory, the process in itself might have created a lot of anger and disappointment with those being 'selected'.
On the other hand, the primary anger was directed towards the responsible managers at the company but as so often with people prefering the collective, they didn't dare to rage against those being outermost responsible, instead they hit against people being almost in the same situation as them. So common among cowardly people.
Christophe later in the film argues with Michel (when the latter visits him in prison) meaning that Michel is leaving a bourgeois life, the former leftist and unionist. This is more or less true as Michel - as most people being a part of what I (Gunnar) call the 'chic leftists' - is living a rather good life, though not being rich.
On the other hand, this doesn't justify Christophe's actions, as he doesn't strike against the 'power' but the lower parts of the hierarchy in the enterprise. This not least as he and his friends are using an exaggerated amount of violence, depriving Michel and his wife of the little money they have.
This is of course what the politicians and decision makers, including the heads of different enterprises want: Let the 'populace' fight each other, that way we are left alone. This approach doesn't change the conditions in society on a profound level but this is of course what our politicians want.
The acting is however excellent and the story is engaging in many ways. Than, we all side with either Michel and Marie-Claire or Raoul and Denise, tend to understand - or not - the way Christophe acts but perhaps all of us, pity the children whose mother (Karole Rocher) is an irresponsible person with not empathy for her children.
Perhaps are we able to see each and every side of this story, thus being able to understand every character to a certain extent?









(Photo poster copied from: http://www.avoir-alire.com/IMG/jpg/les_neiges_du_kilimandjaro_grande-2263d.jpg)
(Photo Jean-Pierre Darrousin et Ariane Ascaride copied from: http://www.cinemovies.fr/images/data/photos/21238/les-neiges-du-kilimandjaro-2011-21238-1278497139.jpg)
(Photo Jean-Pierre Darrousin with a gun to his head copied from: http://www.le75011.fr/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/jean_pierre_darroussin_les_neiges_du_kilimandjaro.jpg)