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Malou Khebizi is Liane in “Diamant Brut” by Agathe Riedinger
CINEMA – For one Nabilla Vergarahow many young girls who will never become millionaires and will never settle in Dubai? Rough Diamond, director’s first feature film Agathe Riedinger was released this Wednesday, November 20 in cinemas. The film portrays a young woman obsessed with the idea of becoming a reality TV starand a cruel industry.
Liane (Malou Khebizi) is 19 years old, and lives in Fréjus. His daily life in the Var is gloomy: shoplifting in stores, days spent scrolling on the sofa in a dilapidated house with his resigned mother (Andréa Bescond) and his little sister. Her few moments of escape, she has with her friends, and when she posts for her ” small ” community. When the casting director of the reality TV show Miracle Island calls him to meet her, his life turns upside down.
For Liane, the possibility of a way out opens. And this is enough to make the young woman completely obsessed with this idea. “ I’m going to become the French Kim Kardashian, you’ll see » says Liane to her best friend. Because she is sure of it: participating in a reality TV show is the guarantee of gaining followers, expanding your community, filling your pockets to escape poverty. “From the candidates’ point of view, reality TV is often a way out. It can be an alternative to unemployment for those who have little access to studies or employment, for those who suffer from a lack of social and emotional recognition”explains the director in the production notes.
For Liane, there is that, but not only that. Reality TV is also a way to be loved.
Reality TV, an escape
Quickly, in Agathe Riedinger’s film, it becomes obvious that the young woman’s deep desire is not wealth. Liane says it herself: “to be beautiful means to be looked at, therefore to be desirable, therefore to be loved”. She wants to shine, to be seen by as many people as possible, in the hope, above all, that her mother will finally look at her.
As a result of the lack of maternal recognition, Liane cruelly lacks self-confidence. However, it shows the rest of the world the exact opposite. To her subscribers, to begin with, from whom she hides all her discomfort. But also to her friends whom she rejects, and even to this boy who is also broken by life, who nevertheless only asks to protect her.
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Malou Khebizi and Idir Azougli are Liane and Dino in “Diamant Brut”
Beyond her need to be loved, Liane thinks that reality TV will allow her to “ show who she is ». But the problem is that she doesn’t know it. Outrageous makeup, unlimited rhinestones, hair additions and cosmetic surgery are all pieces that constitute the impenetrable shell of the young woman, enhanced by her violence and her verbal vulgarity.
Become a beloved icon
At no point in the feature film does the viewer see images from reality TV shows. Only a few sentences from shows and commercial collaborations from influencers posted on social networks are heard. Everything happens on the other side of the camera. “Hearing without seeing allowed you to create mystery, the power that Liane gives to reality TV”explains Agathe Riedinger.
And Liane puts herself in physical and emotional danger to make the image that reality TV reflects, with its distorted mirror, stick. She is in an almost Christ-like crusade to achieve the iconic status that Kim Kardashian, Nabilla Vergara and Jessica Thivenin can have for millions of people. Moreover, religion is very present in the feature film, a sort of anchor point for the young woman. If she believes in it, obviously, it will work. And for that, she is ready for anything.
The show Miracle Island (whose name was not chosen at random) will she offer Liane the salvation she is looking for? Rough Diamond illustrates in any case that the road to fame is a path of the cross, with no guarantee of success.
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