The Great Arch

Bluesky

French presidents appear to have a obsessive compulsive disorder about leaving behind them imposing buildings or institutions such as the Centre Georges Pompidou, which posterity can admire (or not as the case made be).

Stéphane Démoustier offers an absording accourt of the travails and tribulations of a Danish architect, Otto Von Spreckelsen (Claes Bang), who unexpectedly wins a competition to design one of the most imposing public monuments in Paris for a long time - the white cube to sit at the end of axis from the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs-Elysées and the Louvre. Today it’s become a Mecca for skateboarders – not exactly the original intention.

He is as surprised as anyone to be named the recipient of the architectural award but with the bit between his teeth, he emerges as intransigent in the face of his political masters, who want changes.

President Mitterand (Michel Fau) gives his backing and seems to empathise with the Dane’s cultural background and ideas although as a precautionary measure the authorities appoint a more experienced Frenchman (Swann Arlaud) to join the team and to help to work out the obstacles for such an ambitious undertaking. The project’s managing official in the Government gives Xavier Dolan a memorable cameo, becoming increasingly concerned his own reputation could be on the line.

Another distinct hindrance arrives when Mitterand’s party loses the mid-term elections and a right-wing administration takes over the reins and decides that the initial plans need to be revised.

The uncomprehending Dane clearly never expected the weight of French meddling and superiority and cannot cope with the pressure of demands, seeking succour from his wife and business partner (Sidse Babett Knudsen).Their relationship also comes under strain during the seven long years of the construction while the psychological pressures take their toll and lead to the dark denouement.

Démoustier whose last feature Borgo was set in a Corsican prison, relishes exploring the conflicts between culture and commerce, taking swipes at France’s renowned reputation for bureaucracy and protocol along the way.

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