a French -Algerian co -production ,the very year of the Evian agreements The movie is actually from 1962 and ,oddly,not always mentioned in Jean Faurez's small filmography which includes a true gem ("La Fille Aux Yeux Gris")
although the historic context of the time was not particularly good,this movie shows Algerians ,well-assimilated populations in the French society;this is perhaps the message of the film which totally avoids politic and the war which had just come to an end ;the hero's family is almost a model:the father is a good man, a taxi driver ,with a stay-at-home but beloved wife,a son who's top of his class and a daughter who works in a travel agency and who will probably marry a lieutenant (working for the police is the peak of integration!) ;he's also got a cousin,a boxing champion.
The detective plot becomes of secondary importance ,the Algerian actors playing the most prominent part;as for the French actors,they are anonymous,I dare you to name one of them.The most interesting side is the simple (but comfortable,for the early sixties)life of this small community who,in spite of their successful integration ,stay together when they celebrate a compatriot's return or the boxer's victory.
