Toi, moi… et les autres ? Musique populaire et migration dans le film musical Toi, moi, les autres d’Audrey Estrougo (2011)

Abstract

In my article, I analyse the relationship between famous French songs and migration in the French film musical Toi, moi, les autres (Audrey Estrougo 2011), which mixes the codes of the fairy tale romcom with a story about undocumented migrants in contemporary Paris. I underscore that the use of these songs – very few of the musical arrangements are sung by figures of sans-papiers – is pernicious. They serve to highlight and to cement the love story of the two protagonists much more than to develop a real political discourse. I argue that the filmmaker has exploited the memorial – and sentimental – dimension of the French songs for the benefit of the romantic story but has failed to offer a critical discourse on the situation of the undocumented migrants, which had been one of the intentions of the film.