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Dheepan 15 rating

Jacques Audiard’s soul-stirring Palme d’Or winner tells of a veteran Tamil Tiger guerrilla who finds fresh violence in his new life in Paris.

Drama 2015 115 mins

Director: Jacques Audiard

Overview

Jacques Audiard won the Palme d’Or for this pulsating tale which again affirms his dextrous skill in weaving steel and heart; humane drama and gritty action. Dheepan (Antonythasan Jesuthasan) is a veteran Tamil Tiger guerrilla forced to flee Sri Lanka following the end of the civil war. The surest way to attain safe passage is to pose as a family, so he sets off with two strangers as his ‘wife’ Yalini (Kalieaswari Srinivasan) and ‘daughter’ Illayaal (Claudine Vinasithamby).

Starting afresh in Paris, they face numerous hurdles, from adapting to a new country to holding down menial jobs and attempting to maintain a sense of normal family life, despite all three being relative strangers. But their world is further shaken when Dheepan becomes embroiled with a local gang, instinctively reverting to his old combat skillset to save the family he’s grown to love.