On the poster for the film “Omar la fraise” with Reda Kateb at the cinema, Benoît Magimel plays a retired gangster. And the actor offers us a great rap scene, which he tells us behind the scenes.
Presented at the Cannes Film Festival in a midnight session a week ago, Omar la fraise is currently in the cinema. This first feature film by Elias Belkeddar, who was co-screenwriter on Athena by Romain Gavras and My Days of Glory by Antoine de Bary, brings together Reda Kateb and Benoît Magimel.
The two French actors play Omar and Roger, two best friends gangsters exiled in Algeria who continue their shenanigans. These old-fashioned mobsters, living in debauchery and violence, take advantage of their reputation to continue doing business.
This gangster film navigates between all genres with a lot of violence, humor and tenderness and connects incredible adventures in a setting sublimated by a careful staging. Omar the strawberry is also worth for his delicious duet, which makes all the salt of this refreshing feature film.
The brilliant rap of Benoît Magimel
And we remember several already cult scenes, including a rap sequence from Roger. Met at the Cannes Film Festival, Benoît Magimel explained to us that the idea quite simply came from him:
“That’s something I practiced when I was a kid. I liked raggamuffin. And then, when rap arrived, it’s a culture… My way of rapping is really close to that of the late 1980s.
I suggested that to the director. I said to him: ‘Here, I have this microphone which is good’. And the guy is having fun, he’s all alone. It allows him to pass the time. I tried to offer things at a time that make me laugh, but that can be found in certain individuals.
And yet, Roger could have had another talent than rap! Benoît Magimel would have liked to bring another personal know-how to his character, which was also fashionable in the 1980s:
“I love doing scoubidous. I suggested at one point that Roger do scoubidous, but I was saying that if we saw Roger doing scoubidous, we also had to show him in a scene where he there is violence, raw violence, strong violence. Otherwise, it’s a puppet.
When one is locked up, it is a lifetime of suffering to choose this path. The thugs, they know what they risk. When you’re locked up, maybe you learn to do scoubidous to pass the time.”
Alas, no scoubidous in Omar the strawberry! But Roger offers us scenes of anthology in Elias Belkeddar’s film, like the rap scene which should be remembered for a long time.
Discover the trailer for Omar la fraise, currently in cinemas:
Interview at the Cannes Film Festival by Mégane Choquet on May 21, 2023.