Combien tu m’aimes? (2005) - film review

Late one evening, a man and a woman meet for the first time at a Pigalle nightclub.  He is a shy, ordinary looking man who looks as if he can barely afford the price of a drink.  She is a stunningly beautiful Italian prostitute, a true object of desire.  The man, François, makes the woman, Daniela, an unexpected proposal.  He has just won four million euros on the lottery and offers to pay her 100 thousand euros a month to live with him.  Of course, she accepts, and they return to his cramped apartment to set the seal on their business arrangement.  François’s life will never be the same again, and neither will Daniela’s...

For over three decades, French filmmaker Bertrand Blier has been taunting, pleasing and surprising cinema audiences (in roughly equal measure) with his provocative, uniquely unreal brand of cinema.  His latest film, Combien tu m’aimes?, goes further than many of his previous films into the realms of absurdity and invites us to reflect on the value of human relationships in a society where material wealth appears to count for more than emotional well-being.   This film isn’t entirely without entertainment value but, lacking the subtlety and coherence of Blier’s earlier work, it often comes across as silly and aimless and, overall, it fails to make a positive impression.   

Looking back on some of the director’s previous films – Les Valseuses (1974), Buffet froid (1979) and Trop belle pour toi (1989) – it is apparent that these films have impact because Blier always manages to keep one foot in reality, giving the spectator a reference point.   With some of his more recent films, and Combien tu m’aimes? is a good example, both feet (and every other appendage) are well and truly in fantasy land and it is far more difficult to engage with what we are shown.   Whilst this latest Blier offering has an excellent cast who make the most of the material they are given, you can’t help feeling that the director is fast running out of steam and all he can do now is regale us with increasingly hollow parodies of his earlier work.

© James Travers 2008

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One of my favourite French filmmakers, Bertrand Blier has done it again, this time with an absolutely out-and-out hilarious, tight and entertaining script.  I realise that this movie has been rated rather lower than his other previous work, which is a shame but I understand that a work of art takes some time before being appreciated.  I echo the sentiments of M. Travers that it is not as good as the earlier films (e.g. Trop belle pour toi, my favourite) but I would still say this is one of Blier’s better movies.   There are various reasons for this: the actors, all committed French and Italian veterans:  Gérard Depardieu (who needs no introduction), Jean-Pierre Darrousson (Red Lights) and Monica Bellucci (Vincent Cassell, her real husband, is the luckiest man in the world).  Secondly, the original motion picture soundtrack e.g. Tosca, Norma, Vivaldi, La Traviata, Il Pirara with my best soprano voice of Montserratt Caballe.  One thing that stays with me is the visuals supported by a great score. What I also liked is the costumes, especially for Bellucci.  Now for the script...  Well, Blier has indeed given a mixture of all his previous work but no one can dispute that this is a work of an original master at his best.  The argument between the neighbour and Bellucci stands out for me, hilarious as it may be with the neighbour complaining about the noise only to enact her own complaint later.  A pimp who carries a gun, a party dance, a husband who might have won a lottery and consistently needs to be examined for high blood pressure? I still wonder what happed to the doctor to have caused such fate...  Movie collectors cannot afford to be without this film. Arguments, separations but eventually love wins in the end.  I have watched this one more than four times in one week after obtaining it from Amazon.fr. Unfortunately, this is a Region 2 France DVD with no English subtitles but it has DD 5.1, DD 5.1 DTS and 2.1 mono anamorphic transfer picture, actor biographies etc. To me the film scores a powerful 4 stars!
Thanda Makhathini (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa) 

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