Paria on AllMovie

Two homeless men are brought together by fate in this gritty neorealistic drama from France. After quarreling with his family, college-age Victor (Cyril Troley) decides to move out and find an apartment of his own. However, Victor's desire for independence isn't coupled with a bankroll, and when he falls behind on the rent at his tenement flat, he's evicted on New Year's Eve and is forced to fend for himself on the streets. Victor steals some CDs and sneaks into a party, hoping to sell them, but an argument causes him to be thrown out, and he finds himself trying to catch a few hours sleep in a train station. While Victor sleeps, his shoes are stolen by Momo (Gerald Thomassin), an older homeless man who is hoping to put himself back on his feet by marrying a woman from North Africa who is having problems with immigration authorities. As Victor and Momo wander the streets of Paris, they bump into each other, and get along well enough to spend an evening drinking together, until Victor realizes that Momo is the man who stole his shoes. A fight between them leads to an arrest and a night in a homeless shelter, where the two have a sobering encounter with Blaise (Didier Berestetsky), an elderly vagrant. Paria had its North American premiere at the 2001 San Francisco Film Festival.