The true story of a totally insane robbery: What is this movie Le Gang des bois du temple?

Since Wesh Wesh, What’s Going On?, 57-year-old Raba Amer-Zaimeche has established herself as one of French cinema’s most brilliant mavericks. On September 6, the director returned behind the camera with Le Gang des bois du temple, his 7th feature film.

The story follows Mr. Pon (Director Laroche), a retired soldier who lives in the working-class neighborhood of Bois du Temple. When he buries his mother, his neighbor Baby, who belongs to a group of gangsters from the city, plans to rob the motorcade of a rich Arab prince.

The film is based on the news that happened in 2014. A heavily armed gang from Seine-Saint-Denis attacked a black van carrying the personal belongings of an Arab prince, one of the world’s richest men. The robbery is taking place on the slip road of the A1 motorway, near the Porte de La Chapelle.

“The coup was organized by a gypsy from Val d’Oise, whose uncle was one of the great figures of banditry… For him it was a family tribute and a real challenge to rise to the top.” and he. He associated himself with a group of crooks from the city of Temple Woods. I found this incident educational and kept it in reserve, so to speak, until the murder. In 2018, the Saudi consulate of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Istanbul”Raba Ameur-Zaimeche explains.

The filmmaker was shocked by both the brutality and the impunity of such bloody violence. “Perpetrated by high-ranking officials so powerful that they believe that the law and human justice prevail. We decided to mix these two different facts and create a new scenario.”

Note that the town of Bois du Temple is located in Clichy-sous-Bois, northeast of Seine-Saint-Denis. “It was built in the late 1960s on the marshes in the middle of the forest, near the old chapel, the miraculous spring and the three crosses erected there.”– says the director.

Paris in the South

However, the film was not shot in the Paris region. The Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche team set up their cameras in the city of Bordeaux’s Grand Park, which itself was built on former wetlands. The team also shot in Marseille. Marseille was ideal for the director “For its night lights, for its highways that, after flying over the city, plunge into underground tunnels, dark and scary.”

“In short, in the suburbs of Paris, Bordeaux or Marseille, urban areas resemble each other and constantly reinvent themselves. Crossing the rivers and spreading through the valleys, they spread on the sides of the mountains and emancipated from the centers of the cities, they are transformed. An attractive museum for tourists from all over the world.”

Back to popular neighborhoods

With Le Gang des bois du temps, Raba Ameur-Zaimeche reconnects with stories set in working-class neighborhoods, 20 years after Wesh Wesh, What Happens? According to the filmmaker, “There are still a lot of movie theaters in these neighborhoods! It’s home to a large part of the proletariat, populated by minorities from all over the world.”

According to the director, this proletariat is no longer what it used to be, when it was built around associations, parties and unions.

“Now it is more fragmented, more isolated, deprived of essential political tools and divided by reactionary and nauseating ideologies. However, unlike the oligarchies hungry for power and money, who frighten us with wars, famine and the worst atrocities, the proletariat always dreams of a peaceful and fraternal life. People have simple lives, simple aspirations… They live and die together like members of the Temple Woods gang.”The director explains.

Temple Woods Gang hits theaters on September 6.