Building 5: Does the city of Montvillier really exist?

After the triumph of the best film at the César 2020 ceremony, Ladj Ly returns to the cinema with his new project: Bâtiment 5. After following the police officers of the anti-criminality brigade of Montfermeil in his previous feature film, this time. He invites us to follow a municipal team led by an opportunistic mayor. The latter finds himself in the face of a very dedicated young activist: Hubby.

Involved in the life of the city of Montvilliers, he discovered a new development plan for the neighborhood in which he grew up. Under the cunning leadership of Pierre Forges, a young pediatrician turned mayor, he plans to demolish the building where Hubby grew up. Together with his family, he starts a resistance against the municipality and its big ambitions to prevent the demolition of the 5th building.

MONTILLIERS, a real suburb of Paris?

After Montfermeil in Les Misérables, a real town located on the Seine-Saint-Denis, Ladj Ly preferred to set Batiment’s action in a fictional town: Montvilliers.

“I come from Montfermeil, I grew up there, fed on the stories of its inhabitants, which are definitely permeated in my films, but in this case I wanted to expand the frame. in France and elsewhere.The director explains.

What is happening in the neighborhoods of Montfermeil is happening in many other cities in France and elsewhere.

By inventing the city, Ladj Ly said to himself that everyone can be reflected there. “The same applies to the principle of a choral film that explores history, from the trajectory of this mayor to the trajectory of an association activist, his friend or the deputy mayor. Everything has to do with observing the political. Building 5 assures us. that it’s time to reconsider”indicates the director.

For Ladj Ly, the hub symbolizes all this in finding new ways to move the roads, the lines. “Through it, I wanted to invent this new generation of people from neighborhoods who are starting to be interested in politics just like those who still hold power but don’t understand anything about our world anymore.”The filmmaker believes.

Corpse 5 was released in theaters on December 6.