Macadam Stories

Macadam Stories (Asphalte) is a 2015 French comedy-drama film written and directed by Samuel Benchetrit, and based on the first volume of Benchetrit's autobiography Les Chroniques de l'Asphalte. The film was selected to be screened in the Special Screenings section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

Plot
The elevator in the apartment complex breaks down and residents have to pay for the repair, but the dull middle-aged Sternkowitz, who lives on the first floor, refuses to pay for the repair. In the end, Sternkowitz was exempt from paying on the condition that he didn't use the elevator, but shortly after, he was injured and confined to a wheelchair. Then, he secretly uses the elevator so that no one can see him, and goes out to buy food in the middle of the night in the vending machine of a hospital. However, when the night shift nurse finds him, he immediately lies and says: "I'm a photographer who is scouting locations". Attracted to her, he goes to see her at the hospital in a wheelchair every night at recess. As they approached, Sternkowitz offered to take her picture, to which she agreed. One night, he decides to go to the hospital, but the elevator breaks down and he's unable to get out of the hospital. Desperate, he managed to escape from the elevator and was dragged to the hospital. When their appointment has passed and the nurse finally comes home from her night shift, Sternkowitz honestly confesses that he's not a photographer.

Teenage boy Charly lives with his mother, who is often away from home and spends most of his time alone. One day, a middle-aged woman named Jeanne Meyer moves into the next room. She used to be an actress, but now she has no roles and she's totally depressed. She can't stand Charly, who is too stupid to live alone.

The return capsule carrying astronaut John Mackenzie crash-lands on the roof of the apartment complex due to a mistake. Wanting to cover up the emergency, NASA asks Madame Hamida, an Algerian immigrant woman living on the top floor of the complex, to protect him for two days until he can be picked up. She treated him like a son, feeding him couscous, and lent her son's room and clothes, while the latter is in jail. John doesn't understand French and Madame Hamida doesn't understand English, so sometimes they don't get along, but they get along like mother and son.

Cast

 * Isabelle Huppert as Jeanne Meyer
 * Gustave Kervern as Sternkowitz
 * Valeria Bruni Tedeschi as The Nurse
 * Tassadit Mandi as Madame Hamida
 * Jules Benchetrit as Charly
 * Michael Pitt as John McKenzie
 * Mickaël Graehling as Dédé
 * Larouci Didi as Mouloud
 * Thierry Gimenez as Monsieur Gilosa