Clara and Ismael are lovers who find themselves in a quandary after she finds out she is pregnant. Clara, after all, is Jewish and Ismael is a Muslim. How to break the news to their respective families becomes a nightmare for the couple. They fear the reaction on each side because of the eternal problems and distrusts between the two factions.
While Clara arranges a dinner to introduce Ismael to her parents, the Breitmans, conservative Jews, she does so hoping for the best. Their reaction to their involvement doesn't have the awaited result, without ever mentioning her pregnancy. She figures to let the news sink in. Only Clara's aunt Martha is happy about the announcement. Ismael, also, hesitates to introduce his girlfriend to his widowed mother and sister because he is afraid of their reaction as well. The lovers' lives change completely as each one of them bring things they associate as being part of their beliefs into their relationship. Thus, each one of them take a different approach to the religion problem and how to deal with it.
Roschdy Zem, an actor who has worked steadily in the French cinema, takes a leap into directing, as well as appearing in the lead of this satisfying comedy. The issues that he and his co-screenplay writers, Pascal Elbe and Agnes De Sacy raise, are in a way, what happens when a mixed marriage is announced. The problem is not with the two people that love each other. In most cases the flack comes from the parents who feel each part must marry their "own kind", something that should be obsolete in this day and age. In this case, what people take for faith, is in reality a fear of the unknown, based on their own prejudices.
Lovely Cecile De France plays Clara with conviction. Roschdy Zem makes a good case for his Ismael. Jean Pierre Cassel, in one of his last appearances on the screen, is Victor. Leila Bekhti is impressive as Mounia, Ismael's mother. Berangere Bonvoisin shows up as Martha, the only free spirit in the film.
Roschdy Zem shows he has a keen eye for the subject in which he is dealing. One can only wish him good luck and hope he'll decide to undertake another thorny issue for his next film.
While Clara arranges a dinner to introduce Ismael to her parents, the Breitmans, conservative Jews, she does so hoping for the best. Their reaction to their involvement doesn't have the awaited result, without ever mentioning her pregnancy. She figures to let the news sink in. Only Clara's aunt Martha is happy about the announcement. Ismael, also, hesitates to introduce his girlfriend to his widowed mother and sister because he is afraid of their reaction as well. The lovers' lives change completely as each one of them bring things they associate as being part of their beliefs into their relationship. Thus, each one of them take a different approach to the religion problem and how to deal with it.
Roschdy Zem, an actor who has worked steadily in the French cinema, takes a leap into directing, as well as appearing in the lead of this satisfying comedy. The issues that he and his co-screenplay writers, Pascal Elbe and Agnes De Sacy raise, are in a way, what happens when a mixed marriage is announced. The problem is not with the two people that love each other. In most cases the flack comes from the parents who feel each part must marry their "own kind", something that should be obsolete in this day and age. In this case, what people take for faith, is in reality a fear of the unknown, based on their own prejudices.
Lovely Cecile De France plays Clara with conviction. Roschdy Zem makes a good case for his Ismael. Jean Pierre Cassel, in one of his last appearances on the screen, is Victor. Leila Bekhti is impressive as Mounia, Ismael's mother. Berangere Bonvoisin shows up as Martha, the only free spirit in the film.
Roschdy Zem shows he has a keen eye for the subject in which he is dealing. One can only wish him good luck and hope he'll decide to undertake another thorny issue for his next film.