Poetical Refugee

Poetical Refugee

2001 · 130 min · ★ 6.6 · Drama

Like a Candide dreaming of Eldorado, Jallel lands in France, hoping to try his luck. From encounter to encounter, hostel to social welfare group, Jallel will make his way through a Paris of outcasts. Although failing to achieve his hopes, he discovers and shares in the solidarity felt by the destitute.

Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche · Written by Abdellatif Kechiche

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Rent or Buy

Canal VODSoonerVIVA by videofuturPremiere MaxARTE VOD

Cast

Make it a double feature

2h 53m together

Poetical Refugee

Sueur

Both from Abdellatif Kechiche.

More from Abdellatif KechicheSee all →

The Secret of PolichinelleThe Secret of Polichinelle · 1997
The Secret of Polichinelle
★ 8.01997
MovieComedy
After a New Year's Eve party, 30-year-old fashion designer Rebecca (Nathalie Schmidt) awakens alone in a strange automobile. Later, during a routine visit to her gynecologist, she learns that she's pregnant. Unable to recall anyone responsible, she attempts to find the father as she treks through Paris streets, quizzes her girlfriends, and visits a Belgian detective. With few leads, her search drags on for months.
SueurSueur · 2008
Sueur
★ 7.52008
MovieDramaMusic
Reedit of the last sequence of The Secret of the Grain, turned into a 43-minute medium-length film, in which Rym sings and performs her famous belly dance, accompanied by the music band, as they all heat up the euphoric restaurant crowd.
Blue Is the Warmest ColorBlue Is the Warmest Color · 2013
Blue Is the Warmest Color
★ 7.12013
MovieRomanceDrama
Adèle's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire, to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adele grows, seeks herself, loses herself, finds herself.
The Secret of the GrainThe Secret of the Grain · 2007
The Secret of the Grain
★ 7.02007
MovieDrama
In southern France, a Franco-Arabic shipyard worker along with his partner's daughter pursues his dream of opening a restaurant.
Mektoub, My Love: Canto UnoMektoub, My Love: Canto Uno · 2018
Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno
★ 6.72018
MovieRomanceDrama
Amin, an aspiring screenwriter living in Paris, returns home for the summer, in Sète, South of France. It is a time of reconnecting with his family and his childhood friends. Together with his cousin Tony and his best friend Ophélie, he spends his time between the Tunisian restaurant run by his parents, the local bars and the beaches frequented by girls on holiday.
Games of Love and ChanceGames of Love and Chance · 2003
Games of Love and Chance
★ 6.72003
MovieRomanceDrama
A group of teenagers living in a housing project in the outskirts of Paris rehearse a scene from Marivaux's play of the same name. Krimo is determined not to take part, but after developing feelings for Lydia, he quickly assumes the main role and love interest in the play.
Black VenusBlack Venus · 2010
Black Venus
★ 6.52010
MovieHistoryDrama
The true story of Saartje Baartman, a black South African worker who moves to London with her master in the early 19th century. Although she dreams of being an artist, once in Europe she is exploited as a sideshow attraction due to her large buttocks and genitalia.
Mektoub, My Love: Canto DueMektoub, My Love: Canto Due · 2025
Mektoub, My Love: Canto Due
★ 6.12025
MovieRomanceDrama
Amin returns to Sète after studying in Paris, still dreaming of cinema. By chance, an American producer on vacation takes an interest in his project and wants his wife, Jess, to play the lead role. But fate, whimsical as ever, has its own rules.
Mint TeaMint Tea · 1984
Mint Tea
★ 5.71984
Movie
A young Algerian in Paris has not been as successful as he claims in letters home, and when his mother unexpectedly arrives for a visit of several months, he is hard put to hide his circumstances -- and the fact that he has resorted to small-time criminal activity to support himself. His mother disembarks in her traditional attire, a warm-hearted woman who does not have a clue as to how this foreign society functions but also has absolutely no inhibitions about finding out, if the need arises. As the story progresses, the mother catches on to her son's circumstances though the two are still not able to confront the deception and right it. Even with a low budget, this first-time feature-length story by Bahloul Bahloul combines satire, comedy, and pathos to bring home a relationship between mother and son that transcends life's many obstacles.
Sorry, HatersSorry, Haters · 2005
Sorry, Haters
★ 5.62005
MovieDrama
Against the anxieties and fears of post-9/11 America, an Arab cab driver picks up a troubled professional woman with unexpected results.
A Vampire in ParadiseA Vampire in Paradise · 1992
A Vampire in Paradise
★ 5.51992
MovieComedy
Is Nosfer Arbi a vampire? Or is he just a very emaciated, very strange and possibly quite lonely young man from an Arabic country with an obsession with death? On the other hand, why is the previously cheery Parisian teenager Nathalie Belfond throwing fits and speaking in Arabic? Her strange behavior began with the appearance of a caped and cadaverous man outside her window. Mr. & Mrs. Belfond have their hands full trying to sort this mess out, in this extremely unusual and award-winning comedy which puts a new wrinkle on the vampire mythos.
The InnocentsThe Innocents · 1987
The Innocents
★ 5.11987
MovieDrama
A woman becomes trapped in the middle of a feud between two men while attempting to free her younger brother from a life of petty crime.
Mektoub, My Love: IntermezzoMektoub, My Love: Intermezzo · 2019
Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo
★ 4.42019
MovieComedyDrama
Summer is coming to an end, Amin and his friends meet Marie, a young parisian student.
BeznessBezness · 1992
Bezness
★ 4.31992
MovieDrama
Fred, a photographer, is in Tunisia to report on the « Bezness » (male prostitutes). Thanks to Roufa, Fred will discover this surprising environment where young men are confronted with the contradictions between tradition and modernity.
The Magic BoxThe Magic Box · 2003
The Magic Box
★ 3.72003
MovieDrama
Over forty and in a bit of a midlife crisis, Tunisian film director Raouf is prone to excessive drinking when not engaged in an argument with his French-born wife Lou (Marianne Basler). One respite to Raouf's dreary life is a recent film assignment -- to shoot an autobiographical film about his childhood. While working on the script, Raouf recalls his childhood home life under the strictures instituted by his devoutly religious father. The polar opposite of Raouf's father was his uncle Mansour, a jolly, life-loving soul who introduced Raouf to cinema through his work as a wandering film projectionist, which angered and shocked his father to no end but proved to be the most pivotal development in the youngster's life. Through cinema, Raouf found his place in this world and came-of-age -- something he may have to revisit in his adult life if he wishes to salvage his marriage.
Marteau RougeMarteau Rouge · 1996
Marteau Rouge
1996
Movie
An old rocker starts a tour in the south of France, hitting the road in his old truck with two young men who are his opening act. Along the way, he stops to pick up hitchhikers...

More Like This

Moulin Rouge!Moulin Rouge! · 2001
Moulin Rouge!
★ 7.52001
MovieDramaRomance
A celebration of love and creative inspiration takes place in the infamous, gaudy and glamorous Parisian nightclub, at the cusp of the 20th century. A young poet, who is plunged into the heady world of Moulin Rouge, begins a passionate affair with the club's most notorious and beautiful star.
A Tree Grows in BrooklynA Tree Grows in Brooklyn · 1945
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
★ 7.51945
MovieDrama
In Brooklyn circa 1900, the Nolans manage to enjoy life on pennies despite great poverty and Papa's alcoholism. We come to know these people well through big and little troubles: Aunt Sissy's scandalous succession of "husbands"; the removal of the one tree visible from their tenement; and young Francie's desire to transfer to a better school...if irresponsible Papa can get his act together.
The GrandmotherThe Grandmother · 2022
The Grandmother
★ 5.92022
MovieDramaHorror
Susana leaves her life in Paris, where she works as a model, and returns to Madrid to take care of her grandmother Pilar.
CycloCyclo · 1995
Cyclo
★ 6.91995
MovieDramaCrime
Follows a young cyclo driver on his poverty-driven descent into criminality in modern-day Ho Chi Minh City. The boy's struggles to scratch out a living for his two sisters and grandfather in the mean streets of the city lead to petty crime on behalf of a mysterious Madame from whom he rents his cyclo.
Sundays and CybeleSundays and Cybele · 1962
Sundays and Cybele
★ 7.21962
MovieDrama
The tragic story of a young orphan girl who is befriended by an innocent but emotionally disabled veteran of the French Indochina War.
Paris Belongs to UsParis Belongs to Us · 1961
Paris Belongs to Us
★ 6.61961
MovieMysteryDrama
A young woman joins a theatrical troupe where she slowly believes that the director is involved with a secret group and that he is in grave danger.
I Remember MamaI Remember Mama · 1948
I Remember Mama
★ 7.21948
MovieFamilyDrama
Norwegian immigrant Marta Hanson keeps a firm but loving hand on her household of four children, a devoted husband and a highly-educated lodger who reads great literature to the family every evening. Through financial crises, illnesses and the small triumphs of everyday life, Marta maintains her optimism and sense of humor, traits she passes on to her aspiring-author daughter, Katrin.
The Insect WomanThe Insect Woman · 1963
The Insect Woman
★ 7.21963
MovieDrama
A woman, Tome, is born to a lower class family in Japan in 1918. The title refers to an insect, repeating its mistakes, as in an infinite circle. Imamura, with this metaphor, introduces the life of Tome, who keeps trying to change her poor life.
Street of ShameStreet of Shame · 1956
Street of Shame
★ 7.71956
MovieDrama
Follows five sex workers employed at a Japanese brothel while the nation debates the passage of an anti-prostitution law.
Twenty-Four EyesTwenty-Four Eyes · 1954
Twenty-Four Eyes
★ 7.71954
MovieDrama
From 1928 to 1946, the lives of 12 young people and their school teacher in a poor Japanese village are profoundly affected by historical events and personal circumstances.
CarrieCarrie · 1952
Carrie
★ 6.41952
MovieDramaRomance
In the late 1890s, the ambitious, innocent Carrie arrives in Chicago’s South Side and stays with her nagging, dullish married sister. She then runs for help to traveling salesman Charles Drouet. She soon becomes his mistress, but falls in love with married restaurant manager George Hurstwood.
Miracle in MilanMiracle in Milan · 1951
Miracle in Milan
★ 7.31951
MovieComedyFantasy
Once upon a time a wise and kind old woman discovers a baby in her cabbage patch. She brings up the child and, when she dies, the boy, Totò, enters an orphanage. Totò leaves the orphanage a happy young man, and looks for work in post-war Milan. He ends up with the homeless and organizes them to build a shanty town in a vacant lot. But when greedy developers threaten the community’s land, Totò will need all the help he can get in order to find an impossible way out.
Cyrano de BergeracCyrano de Bergerac · 1950
Cyrano de Bergerac
★ 6.91950
MovieRomanceDrama
France, 1640. Cyrano, the charismatic swordsman-poet with the absurd nose, hopelessly loves the beauteous Roxane; she, in turn, confesses to Cyrano her love for the handsome but tongue-tied Christian. The chivalrous Cyrano sets up with Christian an innocent deception, with tragic results.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter