Bienvenue au gîte (2003) - film review

Tired of their stressful Parisian lifestyle, Caroline and Bertrand decide to start a new life, running a traditional gîte in deepest Provence.  It is not long before they start to question the wisdom of this move – the buildings are in a state of near-dilapidation, their friend and supposed partner Sophie has walked out on them, and they are but a stone’s throw from a far more attractive holiday home, catering for gay men.  Will this change be as good as a rest, or the start of a nightmare..?

Claude Duty followed his successful musical film Filles perdues, cheveux gras (2002) with this comparatively uninspired comedy-drama, the latest in what seems like a deluge of “town to country / change of lifestyle” films to have landed on the big screen over the last five or so years.  Whilst the film is attractively shot and has a few engaging sequences, the plethora of obvious clichés does weigh it down and diminish its worth as an original piece of cinema.  It doesn’t help that the two lead characters are underwritten and played without any real depth or enthusiasm. Even stars like Bulle Ogier and Julie Depardieu have a hard time breathing life into the dull and predictable narrative.

© James Travers 2007

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