| Games of Love and Chance | |
| Director: | Abdellatif Kechiche |
| Producer: | Jacques Ouaniche |
| Cinematography: | Lubomir Bakchev |
| Distributor: | New Yorker Films (US) |
| Runtime: | 117 minutes (France) 123 minutes (US) |
| Country: | France |
| Language: | French |
| Budget: | $1.3 million |
| Gross: | $2.8 million[1] |
Games of Love and Chance (fr|'''L'Esquive''') is a 2003 French drama film directed by Abdellatif Kechiche and starring Sara Forestier. It won the César Award for Best Film, Best Director, Best Writing and Most Promising Actress.
The film was shot in Seine-Saint-Denis in 6 weeks in October and November 2002.[2]
A group of teenagers from the housing projects of the Paris suburbs practice a passage from the play The Game of Love and Chance by Marivaux for their French class. Abdelkrim, or Krimo, who initially does not act in the play, falls in love with Lydia. In order to try to seduce her, he accepts the role of Arlequin and joins the rehearsal. But his timidness and awkwardness keeps him from participating in the play as well as succeeding with Lydia.
Other than Sara Forestier, many of the actors in this film were inexperienced in cinema and recruited specifically for the film.[3]
Games of Love and Chance garnered a 79% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes[4] and a 71/100 on Metacritic.[5]