"With every passing minute, we’re moving closer to confrontation". It’s into the throes of a race against time with hundreds of lives at stake, under the threat of Kalashnikovs and suicide attacks, that Martin Bourboulon thrusts audiences with his new film, the incisive 13 Days, 13 Nights [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film], which was unveiled out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival and is due to be released in French cinemas on 27 June via Pathé.

The filmmaker broaches this gripping deep dive into the heart of Operation Apagan in 2021 (which saw French forces evacuate 2,805 people from Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul) by way of suspense, tension and a speedy pace, following in the wake of a real-life hero, police chief Mohamed Bida, who was stationed in the French embassy at the time and who subsequently wrote the book 13 jours, 13 nuits dans l’enfer de Kaboul, which inspired the present film’s screenplay, penned by the director himself in league with Alexandre Smia.

"Burn everything, we’ll recover the data". It’s 15 August 2021 and the French embassy in Kabul – the last western mission still open in the Afghan capital – is in turmoil: they have to leave, and quickly. The ambassador slips into his bullet-proof vest and a helicopter takes him to the NATO base at the airport. Now in charge of the facility alongside his small team, Commander Bida (Roschdy Zem) is somewhat confused because hundreds of people are already flocking to the embassy to place themselves under French protection. What should he do with them? Protect them? Abandon them? How can he evacuate all of them when the Taliban are taking control of the town with pressure-cooker levels of violence? 

Either way, Bida must first complete an urgent mission: tackle the dangerous chaos reigning in the streets in order to pick up the boss being hunted by Afghan intelligence. Then it will be time to decide what to do with the refugees that Bida (who doesn’t always obey orders) eventually allows inside the walls of the embassy, which is fast becoming a trap, encircled by the Taliban whose fingers are hovering over their triggers and with whom our "hero" must try to negotiate… 

Much like his previous films (Eiffel [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film], the two-part film The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film] and The Three Musketeers: Milady), Martin Bourboulon excels in controlling pace. Brilliantly aided by editor Stan Collet and director of photography Nicolas Bolduc, the filmmaker plays with the pedals of suspense and plot twists with undeniable efficacity, finding new shooting angles in the process, to tell a story whose characters are endlessly forced to adapt in a world without reference points. Smoothly transitioning from a siege film to a road-movie, as they head towards the airport where other colossal problems await our survivors, the film successfully recreates these real-life events in a very credible way, transforming the entire work into a highly effective, American-style action film, and providing the wonderful Roschdy Zem with an exceptional role. Two minor flaws, however, relate to the supporting roles in the film, which are overly simplistic and wholly reliant on the quality of each actor’s performance (Sidse Babett Knudsen is very much at ease while Lyna Khoudri is still too soft), and the somewhat exaggerated feel-good nature of the narrative (the bullets miraculously miss all the "goodies") in light of the murderously chaotic context depicted. But neither of these drawbacks detract from the pleasure the audience takes in this beautiful film which blends "serious" with "entertainment".

13 Days, 13 Nights was produced by Chapter 2 and Pathé (with the latter steering world sales) in co-production with M6 Films, Logical Content Ventures and Umedia.