Omar Sy: “You can feel hatred, but you have to evacuate it”

Wearing a helmet made of laminated steel sheet, covered with the mud of the trenches, obsessed by the need to protect his son there, Omar Sy crosses “Tirailleurs”, by Mathieu Vadepied, as a tragic hero whom the wind of the History grows in the Great White War. He brings with him the sense of iniquity that was the rule in the French army, the breath of a bitterly denied freedom, and the Fulani language, which he uses in the film to affirm a claimed identity. The film transmits the shame of this episode, which saw the “dark force” thrown onto the battlefield: of the 200,000 Senegalese from the AOF recruited (often at the schlague) who fought under the French flag, 30,000 died in the hell of Verdun and the Marne. The only reminder of this sacrifice is bitter: it is the laughing skirmisher of “Y’a bon Banania! ”… Omar Sy, 44, now living in the United States, is a star: from his debut with Fred at Canal + to the series “Lupin” on Netflix, passing by the incredible success of “Intouchables”, he leads with flair an international career, actor, producer, comedian, and sometimes director. In life and on screen, he exudes a precious quality: sincerity. No cynicism, just decency on edge: Omar Sy, above all, is complete. This has earned him, three times, to be elected “favorite personality of the French”.