Augustin (1995) - film review

Augustin, a 30-something loner, has a part-time job with an insurance company whilst pursuing a clandestine career as an actor.  He has few friends, shuns physical contact, and his greatest pleasure is processing insurance claims forms.  His ambition is to become a film actor, so during his free time he auditions for walk-on parts wherever he can find them.  Opportunity knocks when Augustin is called to audition for a small part – that of a hotel room service attendant – in a film with famous actor Thierry Lhermitte.  Before the audition, Augustin feels compelled to research the part and tries to get work experience in a hotel…

Augustin is a lovingly painted, brilliantly original study of a man who happily breezes through life oblivious to his autism and other personal deficiencies.  Director Anne Fontaine’s aptitude for portraying unusual, complex individuals realistically and sympathetically is never more so in evidence than in this (appropriately) short film.

Augustin is a character who is both fascinating and repulsive – he has dreams of being a celebrity, but he has never had sex; he sucks up to his managers but has contempt for his peers; and his view of the world is perversely ego-centric.  If that wasn’t enough, he is afflicted with a stammer which, when he is nervous, makes him virtually unintelligible.

We ought to see Augustin as a loathsome worm, a pathetic loser who deserves our contempt – but we don’t.   Despite his obvious faults,  or maybe because of these faults, Augustin is someone we cannot help warming to.   Fontaine’s intelligent screenplay and direction brings us close to the character but it is Jean-Chrétien Sibertin-Blanc’s portrayal of Augustin that makes us love him.   (A propos, Sibertin-Blanc is Fontaine’s brother, suggesting the film may perhaps have an autobiographical element to it.)

Hilariously funny in some places, heart-breakingly poignant in others, Augustin is a delightful little film which leaves a lasting impression.  Anyone who is interested to know what happened next to Augustin should watch  Anne Fontaine’s later film, Augustin, roi du Kung-fu (1999), which again stars Jean-Chrétien Sibertin-Blanc as France’s answer to Mr Bean.

© James Travers 2004

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