Le grand voyage
Tags: storytelling

Plot synopsis:
Réda (Nicolas Cazalé) is a French-Moroccan teenager due to sit for Baccalauréat. When his devout father (played by Mohamed Majd) asks Réda to accompany him on a pilgrimage to Mecca, he reluctantly agrees. However, the father insists that they travel by car. As both embark on a road trip thousands of kilometers away from southern France, the once-icy father-and-son relationship starts to thaw as both gradually come to know each other. Réda speaks only in French to his father, who is seen speaking only Arabic for the majority of the film. Later, when necessary, the father proves that he, in fact, speaks impeccable French; his choice to speak only Arabic to his son is, therefore, purposeful.
Along the way, the two meet several interesting characters. They encounter an aged woman clad in black. Though they attempt to leave her behind, she repeatedly reappears in various scenes. The son learns about Islam and why his father thought it would be preferable to make the pilgrimage by car rather than by plane. Throughout the trip, different situations expose how different the father and son are through their actions and outlooks. In one instance, after the father claimed to have been robbed, Réda refuses to part with any of the remaining money when a mother with a child asks him for some, but his father readily gives the woman money.
During their journey, Réda dreams that he is watching his father herding goats, but does not respond when he calls out for his father to save him from quicksand.
After all their hardships, they reach Mecca but the father dies soon after the first day. That night, he is still looking for his father, but instead, sees a person herding goats who barely glances at him. After he finds out his father dies, he sells his car and gives to a beggar on the street.
The route taken by the father and son goes from Provence, France through Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Syria, and Jordan before reaching Saudi Arabia.

Review: You'd think you're in for some serious sightseeing when the premise of the movie takes place primarily between two characters as they travel 3000 miles or so from France to Saudi Arabia, going through most of Europe - Italy, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Turkey, before arriving in the Middle East.
But this is not a tour, and there are no stopovers for soaking in the sights.Reda's father is in his twilight years, and wishes to do the Haj. However, since walking and taking the mule is out of the question, he chooses to travel to Mecca by car.
He can't drive, and therefore enlists the help of Reda, to his son's protest, to get him there in their broken down vehicle.But Reda doesn't see the point of having him go along, when his dad could opt for the plane.
And hence, we set off in this arduous journey with father and son, being not the best of pals.The beauty of this movie is to witness the development of the father and son pair, the challenges they face, the weird people they meet, having to duke it out in varied weather conditions, and alternating rest stops between motels and sleeping in the car.
We see an obvious generation gap in them trying to communicate to each other, the father trying to impose on his son, and the son trying to assert himself as an adult, but circumstances we see, reveal that Reda is quite a fish out of water.
Through the many encounters, they actually team up quite well despite their differences.It's perhaps quite apt to have this film released here last week to coincide with Hari Raya Haji, and having the opportunity to watch our protagonists join the other pilgrims in their Haj. The final scene in Mecca is truly a sight to behold, and you too would feel the claustrophobia and fear as Reda tries to hunt down his dad amongst the thousands of people congregating.
The sights of Europe were perhaps deliberately not dwelled upon, so as to build up the anticipation of and focus on the final destination.It certainly rang home the thought of telling and showing loved ones how much you appreciate them for who they are.
Out of the blue, his father announces that Reda will be driving him to the Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca--something that Reda has no interest in doing but agrees only out of obligation.
As a result, from the start, Reda is angry but being a traditional Muslim man, his father is difficult to talk to or discuss his misgivings.
Both father and son seem very rigid and inflexible--and it's very ironic when the Dad tells his son that he should not be so stubborn.When I read the summary, it talks about how much the characters grew and began to know each other.
I actually liked this and appreciated that there wasn't complete resolution of this--as it would have seemed phony.Overall, the film is well acted and fascinating--giving Westerners an unusual insight into Islam and the Hajj.
I don't know...Maybe it's just because it's an impressive tribute to some Muslim religious action(hajj)but I just felt the movie is so underrated.
I just can't believe that the movie has just been voted by only 223 people so far given that the movie was produced in 2004 and it has won many awards since then.About the movie...it's one of those well-acted sweet movies.Reda,a French teenager due to sit for Baccalauréat, is asked by his devout elderly father to take him to Mecca.Strange as it may seem(if one doesn't know much about Islam)the father wants his son to drive them from their home in France to Saudia Arabia on a once-in-a-lifetime religious pilgrimage.The generation gap between the father and the son is based on simple enough terms('you may know how to read and write, but you know nothing about life,' the unnamed father to his son)but some sort of bromidic generation gap literature is avoided.Bot of them are affectionate in their frustrations.The father never speaks in French though Reda understands Arabic but can only seem to answer in French.
Though they encounter many people on the road: "There's the scary old woman they pick up in the Bosnian border on the way to Belgrade, and the talkative Mustafa(Jacky Nercessian), who helps them out at the border of Turkey,the reticent and shy women wearing burqas on the way to Damascus" the focus is always on the mismatched father and son.There is not much of a conversation in the movie which makes it enjoyable to your eyes.
You see magnificent views in every city they go.The director shows you even the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia even though the movie is not relatively long.Generally I don't like movies which don't have enough dialogs and which take their power from camera subtleties but this one was really great.Despite some unanswered details(like Reda's unseen French girlfriend)the movie appeals to senses.Great work of art and remember this movie is Ismaël Ferroukhi's debut..
beautiful and moving alternative road movie.
this isn't 'Bonnie and Clyde' or 'Thelma and Louise' but it is a fine road movie.
there is the young french (and English) speaking son who wants to do well in France, has a french girlfriend and who drinks alcohol, parties as young men do.
And there is his moroccan arabic (and french) speaking father who devoutly follows his Muslim faith, with generosity and the wisdom of elders and who rejects the new culture surrounding him (like mobile phones).
the film could explore very powerful politics - the odd couple drive thru the former Yugoslavia, thru Turkey and then thru the Middle East to get to Mecca.
yet the film moves thru those places and possibilities with only hints of such agendas.
it seems to be saying that we are all human, and need to understand and care for each other in order to manage well in this world.
Finally, a movie that portrays Moslems as PEOPLE, no stereotypes here.
This movie is driven by the story, by the acting and above all by its theme, that of cultural affirmation and discovery.
The premise for this movie is simple and so is the script: an elderly Muslim gets his teenage son to drive him in his similarly elderly station wagon from France to the haj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, so that he can fulfill his holy Muslim obligation before he dies.
The father is clearly devoutly religious, but the son is unimpressed; he accepts out of obligation to his father rather than to religion, he'd rather be with his (non-Muslim) girlfriend.
The father is stubborn in a lot of things which the son doesn't understand and the petulance between them is the device that maintains the drama, although it is often rather irksome.
However, like any good road movie there are oddball characters encountered along the way; for example a woman on a backroad in Croatia who upon being asked for directions to Belgrade simply gets in the backseat and points with her hand uttering one word which they assume to be a place but can't find it on the map.
There is also occasional humor - in one country the son tires of eating egg sandwiches and wants meat - they are given a goat, but unfortunately (perhaps fortunately for the viewer) it runs away before the father can perform the Muslim slaughterman ritual.
Father and son communicate very little.
BUt when the son drives his father 3000 miles for his pilgrimage's to Mecca, the conversations finally take place.
they are difficult and growth is necessary on both parts.This movie takes us into the hearts of these two travelers, and it is indeed a grand voyage for the audience as well as the two principals.
The same was true for the father and son in this film.See this movie.
Insha'Allah: The Durability of a Father/Son Relationship.
LE GRAND VOYAGE is a gentle miracle of a film, a work made more profound because of its understated script by writer/director Ismaël Ferroukhi who allows the natural scenery of this 'road trip' story and the sophisticated acting of the stars Nicolas Cazalé and Mohamed Majd to carry the emotional impact of the film.
Reda (Nicolas Cazalé) lives with his Muslim family in Southern France, a young student with a Western girlfriend who does not seem to be following the religious direction of his heritage.
His elderly father (Mohamed Majd) has decided his time has come to make his Hadj to Mecca, and being unable to drive, requests the reluctant Reda to forsake his personal needs to drive him to his ultimate religious obligation.
On their pilgrimage they encounter an old woman (Ghina Ognianova) who attaches herself to the two men and must eventually be deserted by Reda, a Turkish man Mustapha (Jacky Nercessian) who promises to guide the father/son duo but instead brings about a schism by getting Reda drunk in a bar and disappearing, and countless border patrol guards and custom agents who delay their progress for various reasons.
Tensions between father and son mount: Reda cannot understand the importance of this pilgrimage so fraught with trials and mishaps, and the father cannot comprehend Reda's insensitivity to the father's religious beliefs and needs.
At last they reach Mecca where they are surrounded by hoards of pilgrims from all around the world and the sensation of trip's significance is overwhelming to Reda.
It has taken a religious pilgrimage to restore the gap between youth and old age, between son and father, and between defiance and acceptance of religious values.
The visual impact of this film is extraordinary - all the more so because it feels as though the camera just 'happens' to catch the beauty of the many stopping points along the way without the need to enhance them with special effects.
I won't repeat all that has been said already by other viewers of this film.In my opinion this is an excellent film, not only as a very human tale of the developing relationship between a father and his grown-up son, but also as a little window onto the world of practising Islam, for those like me who are not very familiar with that religion.An important aspect of this story is that of the young man's relation to his father's beliefs and practices, and how his attitude towards the religion seems to alter in subtle ways as we progress on their journey with them.This is a very thought-provoking, enjoyable and well-made film that I would recommend to anyone with brain and heart..
What starts out as generational conflict in this movie, ends in understanding, solemnity and grace.
The movie meanders through Europe with the father and the young son cramped in a car over 3000 miles.
For those interested in understanding Islam, this movie offers a generous and gentle outlook, without being pushy about the agenda.
It's a coming of age story for the young son, his dismissive and rebellious nature turning to openness for receiving more ways of life..
There were some good moments to this movie, such as the scenery and the acting between the actors.
However, the last scene with the father and son is contrived - the typical ending to this kind of movie where one cannot think of a better ending!
I guess my problem with it, is because writers feel a movie has to end that way just to make you "think about it" - a sort of induced trauma.
Furthermore it doesn't make any sense why the authorities would have thought to bring the son to the father in the first place.In short, although I liked the movie I felt the ending was forced and I don't think a contrived ending with induced sentimentality deserves the high recognition it's received thus far.
The movie is basically a boring string of appalling clichés which do not offer a real cross-cultural insight.
The original idea might have been interesting, but at the end of the day if you are looking for cultural insight, you should skip this movie..
This movie fails as a vehicle to show how a culturally distant father and son come to understand each other better.
It does provide an intimate look into the dysfunctional relationship between a small minded rigid bigoted father and a son who has a broader vision, and may overcome the cultural myopia the old man tries so hard to instill.
I've joined IMDb so people know what a great film this is!
It's not often you come across a film that's moving and visually cinematic yet humble.
You've read the plot so all I want to say is don't watch it because you want to see a clash of cultural religious identity babble ,because that's the typical misconception people read in to,instead just appreciate and realise it's about a father and son on a voyage growing to know each other through their struggles.
Within a few generations, we, in the West, have managed to allow – demand even – that fathers modify their traditional absoluteness with some mothering qualities.
The film opens with an encounter between the son of a Moroccan immigrant family and a slightly older man, the owner of a car breakers yard.
This struggle between the business owner and the son, sets the contrast for what happens when the young man gets home.He is met by his mother who scolds him for being so long and who is clearly caught between the son and his father – her husband – who has been waiting for the son's return.
He tells the son that his older brother has just been released from police custody, after driving whilst under the influence of alcohol.
The youngest son therefore, will now have to drive his father from their home in France, to Mecca.
This information is given to the son using not one word more than necessary and in a way which leaves no room for protest or even thought about whether this can happen.
Tomorrow, they leave.It is the old man's intention to complete the hajj before he dies.
The following morning, he instructs his disgraced eldest son to take care of his mother and sister.
The son has voiced his protest to his mother.
There is no question that he is going to take his father to Mecca.
It is natural, in our tradition, for our sympathies to be with the son, although it should be born in mind that this would not be the case for many men – and perhaps also women – from the father's culture.
It is possible to see the father as a selfish tyrant, careless of his son's future, whose only interest is his own selfish pursuit of personal salvation.
Indeed, when the son finally stages a protest during the journey, the father seeks him out – no mean thing since it means climbing to the top of a high hill, for this old and infirm man.
He tells the son that he no longer needs him so, if the son does not want to continue, he can leave in the morning and the old man will make his own way from there.
It may be that the old man was making this point about the son's behaviour.The first point at which the film reveals that there are depths inside this old man is when, on some desert country road, an old woman stands hitching a lift.
The son does not want to stop but the old man insists.
When asked where she wants to go, the old woman points forward and says a word which the two men take to be a place name.
Still, the woman points forward saying the word, much to the son's increasing unease.
It is possible to understand the old man's insistence on answering this woman's appeal as based on his recognition of the reality of another's desperation and this immediately undermines the confidence with which you have been able to dismiss him.
It is also possible to understand this black-clad woman who does not speak and demands nothing except to be taken on their journey, as the personification of death which the young man protests but which the old man accepts.There is much more to this film which reveals the old man's inner resourcefulness and watchful intelligence and which forces you to reassess the balance of sympathies between these two men.
The old man completes his journey with his son's assistance, which he does finally acknowledge, and he dies.
When the son, seeking his missing father, discovers the mortuary at Mecca, he is taken by the custodian to view the unidentified bodies.
Once this identification is made, the custodian and the guard – both men – withdraw and the son is left to his devastating grief and abandonment, without support or comfort – the qualities which a mother might offer at such a time.
A slightly good Road Movie.
The movie conveys a sense of expectation in relation to the build of a good relationship between dad and son, but it ends up not happening at all, even though a specific event has made it clear the existence of sentimental ties at the end of the movie.
It's not a bad film, since it can interestingly show off the difference between Western and Muslim lifestyle.
Besides that, Road Movies are always welcome and, by the way, how not to compare it with the fantastic Anthony Hopkins' movie "The World's Fastest Indian", where there are also people driving through unknown lands.
Unconvincing ending does not spoil the road movie.
When a young man is persuaded by his aged father to drive him, a devout Moslem, to Mecca (3,000 miles away) he obeys but with a heavy heart.
Reda (well played by Nicolas Cazale) is supposed to come round to his Dad as they arrive in Mecca, and weeps copiously when he finds him dead.
However, we enjoyed the road movie part, which had some good easygoing laughs and (as Dad required) did not hurry at all.