Change moi ma vie (2001) - film review

Nina, a middle-aged actress who is unable to find work, faints in a public park.  A young Algerian man, Sami, comes to her aid.  Later, Nina tries to track down Sami to thank him, but is shocked to see him working as a transvestite prostitute.  Sami was driven to this when he failed to realise his dream of becoming an Olympic athlete.  Nina and Sami make a pact: Nina will do all she can to re-start her career as an actress, providing Sami gives up drugs and prostitution to become a professional athlete.  For a while, it looks as if things may work out…

Fanny Ardant and Roschdy Zem are not an obvious pairing for a romantic drama, but both actors succeed in rendering the incredible credible and bring emotional depth and poignancy to this stylish but largely predictable film from Liria Bégéja.  The film derives much of its impact from its use of contrasts, and often these are taken to painful extremes (Ardant and Zem being a case in point).  Despite this, the drama holds together well, primarily through Fanny Ardant’s moving portrayal of a woman who cannot quite put her life back together after a failed romance.  Roschdy Zem is underused, or rather abused, by a script that slips too easily into caricature, but he still manages to make his character believable and sympathetic. For all its faults, Change-moi ma vie is an emotionally engaging drama whose impact derives almost entirely from the darkly introspective performances of two exceptional actors.

© James Travers 2005

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