Pas Si Grave (2003)

French writer/director Bernard Rapp (Une Affaire de Goût) creates a neo-fable, of sorts, with his 2003 film, Pas Si Grave (No Big Deal). About a quarter of a century ago, Spanish artist Pablo (director Alejandro Jodorowsky) and his musician wife, Pilar (Pascale Roberts), escaped their native country and its civil war for sanctuary in Belgium. Shortly after arriving in their new home, the couple adopted three five-year-old boys from different ethnic backgrounds and raised them to become artists in their own right. Now grown, Charlie (Sami Bouajila), Max (Jean-Michel Portal), and Leo (Romain Duris) are brought together by their father, who has begun to feel his age and now spends a fair amount of time pondering how much longer he has to live. In an attempt to bring his sons closer together, Pablo gives them a mission: travel to Spain and steal a famous and well-guarded bust of the Virgin Mary and return it to Belgium. Immediately complying, the men set about to accomplish their assignment, while managing to truly get to know each other in the process. No Big Deal was a participating film at the 2003 New York Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi