Comme une image (2004) - film review

20-something Lolita Cassard has great ambitions as a concert singer and actress, but she is overly conscious of her dowdy appearance.  To her surprise, her music teacher Sylvia Millet takes a close interest in her, not knowing that Sylvia has an ulterior motive.  Lolita’s father,  Étienne, is the head of a publishing house, whilst Sylvia’s husband is a struggling writer.  Whilst various machinations play out in the background, Lolita meets a sympathetic young man, Sébastien, who, for once seems to like her for what she is…

Agnès Jaoui’s second film, after the hugely successful Le Goût des autres (2000), is this mordant social satire, in which the successful writing team of Jaoui and her real-life partner Jean-Pierre Bacri once again make some wry observations on our society and the way people behave to try to better themselves.  It may lack the charm, humour and popular appeal of Le Goût des autres, but Comme une image is nonetheless a well-crafted contemporary drama, with some commendable performances.   As Lolita, Marilou Berry (famously the daughter of actress-director Josiane Balasko) takes on her first substantial screen role, and fares rather well, almost eclipsing the contributions from established actors such as Jaoui and Bacri.

© James Travers 2007

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