Samba (2014 film)

Samba is a 2014 French comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano.[4] It is their second collaboration with the actor Omar Sy after The Intouchables (2012).

Samba
Film poster
Directed by
Produced by
  • Nicolas Duval-Adassovsky
  • Laurent Zeitoun
  • Yann Zenou
Screenplay by
  • Olivier Nakache
  • Eric Toledano
Based onSamba pour la France
by Delphine Coulin
Starring
Music byLudovico Einaudi
CinematographyStéphane Fontaine
Edited byDorian Rigal-Ansous
Production
company
Distributed byGaumont
Release date
  • 7 September 2014 (2014-09-07) (TIFF)
  • 15 October 2014 (2014-10-15) (France)
Running time
119 minutes[1]
CountryFrance
Language
  • French
  • Arabic
  • English
  • Portuguese
  • Russian
  • Serbian
Budget$19 million[2]
Box office$39.2 million[3]

The film was premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2014.[5] It had a theatrical release on 15 October 2014 in France,[6] before having a limited theatrical release on 24 July 2015 in the United States.[7]

Plot

Samba Cissé (Sy), a migrant from Senegal to France, works as a dish washer in a hotel. After a bureaucratic slip-up lands him in detention, he is ordered to leave France. With the help of a businesswoman (Charlotte Gainsbourg), he fights to stay in France.

Cast

Reception

The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 61% based on 66 reviews and an average score of 5.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads "Samba isn't the finest effort from directors Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, but the film's shortcomings are partly balanced by its big heart and talented cast."[8] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 based on reviews from mainstream critics, the film has a score of 53 based on 22 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[9]

Peter Debruge of Variety called the film "A highly polished, widely appealing big-budget French movie." He praised Sy's performance, writing, "If nothing else, the pic cements Sy's position as one of France's most magnetic screen personalities, even more compelling to watch in serious scenes than in the obligatory comedic bits."[10] Jordan Adler gave the film a positive review in We Got This Covered, saying, "The immigrant's struggle is brought to pulsating life in Samba, which works best as an affecting and amusing star vehicle for Omar Sy."[11]

However, Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter criticized the film's plot: "The film's message is lost amid too many plot contrivances." He concluded that it is "another crowdpleasing social dramedy from the makers of "Intouchables," though one that wears out its welcome without bringing its message home."[12] Mark Adams from Screen International in his review said that it is a "well-meaning and occasionally joyous film that is ultimately too scattershot in its format and tone to really work".[13]

References
  1. "SAMBA (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 20 April 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  2. http://www.jpbox-office.com/fichfilm.php?id=14390
  3. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&id=samba.htm
  4. "Cannes 2014 News - Omar Sy Teams Up w/ His 'Intouchables' Directors On 'Samba'". Retrieved 21 August 2014.
    - Antony Milanesi (16 May 2014). "Omar Sy révèle la première photo officielle du film "Samba" sur Twitter". RTL (in French). Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  5. Steven Zeitchik (22 July 2014). "TIFF 2014: Reitman, Baumbach and Rock to premiere new films". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  6. Elsa Heslassy (15 May 2014). "Cannes: Gaumont Turns Buyers' Heads With Omar Sy's 'Samba'". Variety. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  7. "French Romantic Drama 'Samba' Set for U.S. Theatrical Release in July". Sinuous Magazine. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  8. "Samba (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  9. "Samba". Metacritic. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  10. Peter Debruge (17 September 2014). "Film Review: 'Samba'". Variety. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  11. Jordan Adler. "Samba Review [TIFF 2014]". We Got This Covered. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  12. Jordan Mintzer (5 September 2014). "'Samba': Toronto Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  13. Mark Adams. "Samba". Screen International. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
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