Asphalte

''Macadam Stories'' () is a 2015 French comedy-drama film written and directed by Samuel Benchetrit, and based on the first volume of Benchetrit's autobiography ''Les Chroniques de l'Asphalte''. The film was selected to be screened in the Special Screenings section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

Plot

The elevator in the apartment complex breaks down and residents have to pay for the repair, but the dull middle-aged Sternkowitz, who lives on the first floor, refuses to pay for the repair. In the end, Sternkowitz was exempt from paying on the condition that he didn't use the elevator, but shortly after, he was injured and confined to a wheelchair. Then, he secretly uses the elevator so that no one can see him, and goes out to buy food in the middle of the night in the vending machine of a hospital. However, when the night shift nurse finds him, he immediately lies and says: "I'm a photographer who is scouting locations". Attracted to her, he goes to see her at the hospital in a wheelchair every night at recess. As they come close, Sternkowitz offers to take her picture, to which she agrees. One night, he decides to go to the hospital, but the elevator breaks down and he's unable to get out of it. Desperate, he manages to escape from the elevator and drags himself to the hospital. When their appointment has passed by and the nurse finally goes home from her night shift, Sternkowitz honestly confesses that he's not a photographer.

Teenage boy Charly lives with his mother, who is often away from home and spends most of his time alone. One day, a middle-aged woman named Jeanne Meyer moves into the next flat. She used to be an actress, but now she has no roles and is totally depressed. She can't stand Charly, who is too stupid to live alone.

The return capsule carrying astronaut John Mackenzie crash-lands on the roof of the apartment complex due to a mistake. Wanting to cover up the emergency, NASA asks Madame Hamida, an Algerian immigrant living on the top floor of the complex, to protect him for two days until he can be picked up. She treats him like her son, feeding him couscous, and lends him her son's room and clothes, while the latter is in jail. John doesn't understand French and Madame Hamida doesn't understand English, so sometimes they don't get along, but they get along like mother and son.

Cast

* Isabelle Huppert as Jeanne Meyer
* Gustave Kervern as Sternkowitz
* Valeria Bruni Tedeschi as The Nurse
* Tassadit Mandi as Madame Hamida
* Jules Benchetrit as Charly
* Michael Pitt as John McKenzie
* Mickaël Graehling as Dédé
* Larouci Didi as Mouloud
* Thierry Gimenez as Monsieur Gilosa

Accolades

References

External links

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2015 films
2015 comedy-drama films
2010s French-language films
French comedy-drama films
Films based on biographies
2010s English-language films
2010s French films
English-language comedy-drama films

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