I love French films. And Catherine Deneuve. And Gerard Depardieu (well, just a little). Went and saw Potiche over the long week-end and enjoyed it a lot. Here is the trailer, though it does not really give you much of an idea:
It was funny and dealt with big issues that you don’t see so much in film – feminism (triumphant), unionism (old-fashioned), socialism (unsuccessful) – in a strangely beguiling way. Catherine and Gerard are fading before our very eyes. She was so beautiful once, and glimmers remain. He was never handsome, but did once have something. Now he is huge!! But they are great actors. She morphs from ditzy housewife (the trophy wife of the title) to successful politician, with some exercises in philandering along the way, quite plausibly – no mean feat. A scene where the ageing socialist, who has seen his political life’s work come to naught, thinks he may have fathered a son is priceless. The whole gamut of paternal emotions simmer in him waiting to burst out while he waits for confirmation of a legacy after all. All of the other actors are excellent. Karin Viard who plays Nadege (who you see in the trailer) bore an uncanny resemblance to Julia Gillard which was a little disconcerting.
So there you have it, the world of work and politics and family life. All depicted with great verve and panache in a story that rattles along and takes some unexpected paths.
I have liked all of the Francois Ozon films I have seen. Which surprises me as they are very different. This one is similar to 8 Women in look and quirkiness. I enjoyed that film very much. I loved and was intensely moved by Under The Sand which is a meditation on grief – nothing quirky about that. Charlotte Rampling was so beautiful and intense and insisting on her right to grieve in her own way. Time To Leave was another haunting portrayal, this time of someone facing death. I was not so moved, but it was a beautiful film about a serious subject. Another Charlotte Rampling vehicle was The Swimming Pool. A clever literary whodunit, quirky but in a different way. Beautiful to look at, it kept you guessing to the end. And the denouement when it came was a great surprise, but very satisfying. I think I have seen 5×2 but apart from the actors, who seem very familiar, I can remember nothing about it! So that is not much of a recommendation.
But I do recommend Potiche, do go and see it.
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