Review of 'The Workshop'

 

French film about a group of somewhat alienated young people who are attending a writing workshop in La Ciotat (town in the south, near Cassis) run by a Parisian woman writer - they seem to be there out of something less than great interest in writing, though one of them wants to be a writer or journalist. They're a mixed bunch - a couple of Muslims, a young black guy, and the central character Antoine, who is a dissaffected white guy who is flirting with the far right. He and his mates fool around with a gun, drink, dance and smoke weed. 

There's a bit of backstory about the town and the workers' struggle to save the shipyard (now hanging on as a repair facility for the yachts of the super-rich).

It's mainly long and a bit slow, but it gradually rachets up the tension and the character development, particularly of Antoine. Well worth watching.

Watched on BBC iPlayer.