The Great Arch

His own house and four churches: that was the very slim record of Danish teacher Otto von Spreckelsen (Claes Bang) when, in 1983, to everyone's surprise and thanks to the innovative and daring nature of his project, he won the competition initiated by the French authorities for the future CICOM (Carrefour international de la communication) at La Défense, on the outskirts of Paris. Protected and spurred on by the President François Mitterrand (Michel Fau) and supported by the technocrat Jean-Louis Subilon (Xavier Dolan) and soon by the local architect Paul Andreu (Swann Arlaud), here comes our idealistic hero with a strong character in a position to realise his life's work, this Cube that others prefer to call The Great Arch. But while the prospect is exhilarating, the project is enormous, the deadlines very tight, the details crucial, the bureaucracy inhibiting, the lies and corruption in ambush, and the forces and interests at play are very powerful in the face of a man who is almost alone (accompanied by his wife, played by Sidse Babett Knudsen) in his stubborn quest for crystalline perfection...

Fabien Lemercier, Cineuropa