Ok. I need
to warn you on this French film coming up. And this one is no exception in any
way possible. Oh, it’s a fine specimen of its kind, don’t get me wrong. But
it’s a typical French film through and through, right down to the cliché of the
not very handsome and slightly large (ehm) older gent and the beautiful young
woman forming a couple. And this last one would have made a tad bit more sense
to me if the director was a man – but in fact it is a woman. Let’s give her her
due; it is her first feature film but still. Even if you are mastering the
rules just to be able to break them later, you stick up for your side a bit
more, no? But anyway. Let’s cut to the storyline. I’ll gripe about the whole
thing at the end of post.
So, meet
Amy. In her very common or garden family, she is always the odd one out. She is
a great fan of Woody Allen – and in fact all things cinema – and has defiantly
been herself in the face of pressure from every side to conform, especially her
family. There is the sharp contrast with her sister Helene who is beautiful,
socially competent and later on in the film a man-eater of a lawyer. Her family
desperately wants Alice married, but Alice just cannot find anyone who quite
fits. After all, all the good ones have been snapped up. So she is happy to
take over her father’s pharmacy and take solace in Woody Allen. And then, all
of a sudden, two things happen. The dashing divorcee Vincent bursts into her
life, offering her a dream relationship. Alice is over the moon. But Vincent
has a rival in the shape of Victor an inventor in the field of burglar alarms.
Can he conquer the moody Alice, and be the “man of her dreams”?
Now, this
film is funny, thought provoking and touching in bits. In quite a lot of bits,
in fact. But I also have problems with it. And I don’t just mean the whole
“couples” thing I mentioned at the beginning. As I have often mentioned before
I am very, VERY far from looking like a model myself and I am not saying all
on-screen couples should be made up of age-compatible beautiful people. But
still. I think French films lean a little too much to one side. Slightly odd.
Then there
is the way Alice’s journey is mapped out in the film. Her main aim is to “grow
up” once and for all as it were. You know, let go of all childish things and
see life as it is. This, apparently, involves quitting being a Woody Allen fan
and actually stopping being a movie buff all together. As a movie buff, I am
mildly offended by this. Not to say a bit confused because surely the director
herself is also a movie buff, or she wouldn’t be, you know, directing films and
stuff. I mean, if you think about it, Ms Lellouche is the queen of all dreamers
seeing as she has actually taken up storytelling for a living. Maybe
there’s a sensitivity here I’m missing. But apparently to grow up, Alice needs
to embrace her compatibility with Victor. Which is fine if they’re happy
together. But the problem is, we see absolutely nothing to the effect that she
is UNHAPPY with Vincent. In fact, after the briefest of sketches as to how
their relationship develops, Vincent vanishes from the scene in rather a forced
manner. In fact, Alice can’t even be bothered to break up with him. I mean,
don’t even get me started on the fact that Alice’s happiness seems to be
entirely based on her settling down with someone. This IS, I grant you, a big
factor in happiness sometimes. But sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes people
are truly happy as bachelors. And I think we need a few more films that point
this fact out..
I mean, as
far as romantic comedies go, it’s ok. One is prompted not to think too much
when watching this kind of film, because honestly, there often isn’t much to
think about. Here, well you really shouldn’t bother. You should just see the
film as disposable and move on if you want to enjoy it at all. It’s like rather
an old mattress that has some rather uncomfortable lumps in it. It’s quite
alright in its function but just… You know.
Remember where to lie yourself down.
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