Fortheoriginalityofitscontentandmanneroftelling,GaelMorel's"LeClan"deserveswideart-housedistribution.Itdoes,however,needabetterEnglishtitle.Lifemaybedifficultforpeopleinthefilm,buttheyarenotslavesandmakechoicesthatattempttobettertheirsituations,ifnotalwayshappily.Whynotsimply"AClan,"sincenobodyremembersGriffith'ssecondtitlefor"BirthofaNation,"or"Brothers"?TwoboyspracticeaNorthAfrican"slavedance,"butforsportandrelease. Thetightlyeditedmoviecanbethoughtofasshortstoriesaboutthreebrothersandtheirfather.Withrapidshiftswekeeplearningnewthingsaboutthecharacters.Sometimesonewonderswhatwentonduringagap,butusuallyonecanfigureitoutandthedialoguethatwouldhaveworkeditthroughwouldhavebeensentimentalandoutofcharacter. Oneshotofthebrothershuddledtogetherwatchedbytheirfatherisdifficulttojustifyrealistically,butitworksasasymbolicrepresentation.Ifmeanwhileonewantseverythingspelledoutandsweetened,thereistheQuébecfilm"C.R.A.Z.Y."Thebrothersdomaintainenormousfamiliarity.Theyoungestone,verydrunk,ishelpedbyabrothertovomit. Ifthat'sshocking,wehavetotakeitasafactofthemilieu.ThebanlieuxofFrancehaverecentlybeeninthenews."LeClan"goesmuchfurtherwithstoriesthatleadonetocareforthecharactersinthevarietyoftheirdifficultsituationsofsocialderogation,dangerouslabour,sexuality,andself-esteem.