A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

hello;i'm not -at all- trying to imply any kind of criticism i'm just trying to share u my point of view concerning this movie i've seen yesterday. 1.high pitch dialogs: the long arguments governing a large portion of the movie seems as trying to focus on the real, on earth dialogs taking place between the french & NA immigrants, and maybe other nationalities in France as well. this dialogs seems to be RATHER unprofitable and unheard by both parties, taking an aggressive form in some occasions; this argument is not only found between french-immigrants but also in between immigrants-immigrants themselves; this will lead to the second issue, 2.the theme of POWER: it is so vivid when focusing on the relations between characters of the movie: Lydia-Krimo, Fathi-all other characters, police(government)-all others.* there is one question i would like to raise: Lydia; i can't stop questioning her background? the structure of her character is will built but i guess there is something missing?.

The first comparison that comes to mind is the movie "Kids", but that is a superficial comparison. Both movies employed non-actors and got great performances, but the similarities end there. L'Esquive is set in a Parisian housing project with a majority Muslim population. The slang translation (subtitled) is matched to the slang used in a New York City housing project. Part of the humor comes from this posturing and there is a lot to be laughing about. The performances are strong all around and although the story is simple (a girl drops her boyfriend and he becomes interested in another girl) the kids fill it with energy and drama. There is none of the extreme violence that a similar story, set in the States, would have. There is no bloody shootout at the end - this fact alone recommends it. Sara Forestier (Lydia) you might have seen (if you watch French film) and will see more of - possibly in American film. Osman Elkharraz (Krimo) also has a charisma that makes him a candidate for future roles. The film is a very energetic and fresh examination of kids growing up in a fishbowl, up to and including their harassment and abuse by the French police. If you have any interest in French film, here is a refreshing and funny movie. Enjoy.

I think this film deserve theirs Césars for a lot of reasons. The actors are excellent, especially Sara Forestier who's not from suburbs and has learned all words of this 'particular' vocabulary. The screenplay is very well, finally that's a play in a play ("le Jeu De l'Amour Et Du Hasard" written by Marivaux). This film shows almost the reality, is sometimes funny. The french teacher is disgusting, she is exactly what the director wants to fight : a society were there is no hope for an inhabitant of suburbs. As to her, Kremo is an idiot because he will never be Arlequin, he 'll never be in love and he doesn't even know how to play it. The film shows how wrong it is... The low point of the film is the sound, very bad, I think they wanted to be more realistic but that could be better, and realistic. This film is well to see, everyone can learn something.Even for french the language is hard to understand(sometimes we would have wanted subtitles!). I don't think the foreigners (particularly the ones who watch only blockbusters) will enjoy, or/and understand. But this freshly film is worth to be seen with attention.

This is a dream film, of which I am so entirely thrilled that it received so many awards over the mediocre but over hyped Rois et reine. The self effacement of the director in this film is impeccable, one has the eerie sense of watching a Fred Wiseman documentary. It is true that dialogue can run long and circuitously, but for those with my taste for extreme realism this can only be a downside if the acting is poor, and in l'esquive it is not. The acting is on the contrary frighteningly good, whatever self consciousness the members of this young cast might have before the camera is immediately absorbed in the documentary-like mise en scene, that is to say, it only furthers the sensibilities and aesthetic as a whole. L'esquive is a singular film that we can only hope will influence a generation of young French filmmakers who are tired of the well lit, over produced cinema this country is getting far too comfortable with.