Claes Bang in a dotted dream drama

Between Megalopolis And The brutalistObsessive architects were at the center of two of the most ambitious art films published last year. A more modest addition to the group, but fueled by some of the same ego stumbling trees, technical obstacles, bureaucratic intestine and silver quarrels, Stéphane Demoustier’s The Grande Arche Follows the tragic true story of Johan Otto von Spreckelsen, an idealistic Danish manufacturer whose design for a new massive monument next to Paris ended up destroying his life.

Filled with more collision in French than most of the films coming out of Gaul, the film offers a play-by-play story of what Von Spreckelsen lived after being chosen to erect a brand new arch in the Futuriste Defense district to the west of the city. He had raised ambitions that his “cube”, as he constantly referred, would be held alongside the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower as a sustainable part of the Paris landscape. He did not know that he would fight a long and painful attrition battle between various factions of the French government, only President François Mitterand stood by his side.

Adapted by Demoustier from Laurence Citée novel in 2016, The Grande Arche Mark the fifth film of the underestimated director in just over a decade. None of her previous work has been published in the United States, which is regrettable because Demoustier (brother of the talented actress Anaïs) is one of those rare French filmmakers who can mix the suspense with insightful writing and characterization, which leads to artistic thrillers that are deeply digging. Its latest feature, BorgoWith the superb Hafsia Herzi as a shaded prison guard in Corsica, it is really worth it.

Demoustier’s latest film is less suspense than the others, although there is still an underlying tension guiding the sad trajectory of if Spreckelsen (Claes Bang), which goes from an unknown architectural teacher to the designer of the largest public monument to strike the Paris region for many years. In 1982, its daring white cube was selected to be the new large ark seated at the western end of an axis encompassing the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs-Elysées and the Louvre. It is a bomb that shocks the French establishment, especially after Spreckelsen proves to be completely fanatic of its creation and completely imparting when it comes to building it.

He is probably the last person that the clever general manager of the project, Subilon (a memorable Xavier Dolan), would have chosen for the position, but Von Sprecklesen quickly obtained the support of Mitterand himself (Michel Fau), who fell under the charms of the Dane during their many discussions on art and culture. A more experienced French architect, Paul Andreu (Anatomy of a fallSwann Arlaud), who designed Charles de Gaulle airport when he was only 29 years old, joined the team to manage all intimidating logistical obstacles, supporting the intransigence of Von Sprecklesen on his masterpiece.

The Grande Arche Immerses in details of the smallest details of the erection of a public structure in a country where government’s administrative formalities stick to everything, and creativity is often carried out by political and budgetary realities. The film does not hesitate to show how the sausage was made, whether it be all the meetings that Von Spreckelse is seated because he sees his original design transformed beyond recognition (for him – it seems to us the same thing), or the progressive evolution of the construction site, made convincingly through a combination of VFX and production conception (by Catherine Cosme).

Brady Corbet’s film is of course here, especially when von Spreckelsen visits the same breathtaking Tuscan career where Adrien Brody’s character met his horrible spell in The brutalist. But the Danish architect faces another type of misfortune, learning that the marble he has chosen is both impractical and too expensive for a project already on the budget. Another blow is brought when Mitterand’s party loses the mid-term elections, bringing a right-wing government in power which has other plans for the famous cube.

Von Spreckelsen suffers from these drawbacks as a sculptor whose masterpiece becomes slowly but surely chipped by powers. Studdy and just, as well as religious – an off -competition scene shows it by playing virtually to the organ of a church that he designed in Denmark – he is not prepared to face a French system led by bureaucrats at war accomplices for the good graces of the president.

Bang is perfect for this kind of role, playing an imposing figure which can be both distant and self -centered, and whose large stature decreases as the film progresses. Although we spent a lot of time with the architect at work, we do not see much of the personal life of Von Spreckelsen beyond the perfectly merged relationship that he seems to have with his wife and trading partner, Livse Babett Knudsen). But even this link ends up broke while the project has trouble moving forward as planned.

The representation of Demoustier de The Long – It took seven years from start to finish – and a sordid affair behind the construction of the Grande Arc is a story of lost illusions, with Von Spreckelsen as an erroneous genius who won the architectural lottery and ended up paying a high price for that. There are intelligent pieces of humor through Emovie, especially involving all the mangactions of the French, but the history of the Dane ends with a resolutely dark note.

What the film does not show is how the creation of Von Spreckelsen is still standing today, surrounded by skaters, breaks and hordes of teenagers dragging under its colossal white walls – or more like light gray walls (it was another point of snack for the architect). It may not be the perfect cube he was considering, but he marks the city of Paris as much as all the other famous buildings.