Boudu (2005) - film review

One night, art dealer Christian Lespinglet plans to seduce his assistant Coralie and ends up saving a tramp, Boudu, from drowning.  Reluctantly, Christian offers Boudu a place to spend the night, in his gallery.  His wife Yseult, a neurotic depressive hypochondriac, takes an unexpected interest in the vulgar tramp and decides that he should stay a while longer.   The distraction allows Christian to carry on his affair with Coralie.  Little does he know that Boudu finds both women desirable...

One of Jean Renoir’s most popular films is his 1932 classic Boudu sauvé des eaux, which starred Michel Simon in one of his most celebrated roles, the anarchic yet loveable tramp Boudu.  The film was an adaptation of a well-known stage play, written by René Fauchois, and, a scathing satire on middle class values, is still surprisingly relevant to contemporary society.  Gérard Jugnot’s updated version of the story keeps most of the elements of the original play but tries explore in greater depth the relationship of the four principal players.

Whilst the film has its strengths (some great visual gags and a terrific performance from Catherine Frot), it is pretty lukewarm and insipid in comparison with some of Jugnot’s earlier films.  The film fluctuates nervously between farce and serious emotional drama, without really deciding what kind of film it is, or even what its audience is.  Consequently, much of the comedy is inoffensively mild and pedestrian, whilst the drama feels shallow and just doesn’t ring true.  Depardieu is an obvious choice for Boudu, but he just comes across as unsympathetic and rather stupid, with none of the danger or pathos that one feels in Michel Simon’s portrayal in Renoir’s film.  With its abundance of stock clichés, annoying soundtrack and horribly sentimental ending, this film doesn’t show Gérard Jugnot at his best.

© James Travers 2007

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