Effroyables jardins (2003) - film review

Lucien, a young boy, loves his father, Jacques, but despises his childish eccentricities, which include an extravagant clown act.  Jacques’ best friend, André, decides it his time for Lucien to discover the reason for his father’s behaviour.  During World War II, Jacques and Lucien both loved the same woman, Louise.  To impress her, and thereby win her love, the two friends blow up a signal box, their small contribution to the French Resistance.   Shortly afterwards, they are arrested by German soldiers and thrown into a mud pit with two other men.  Unless someone confesses to the resistance strike, the four men will be shot.  Unable to escape, the four men are cheered by the sight of a friendly German soldier who entertains them with his impersonation of a clown...

Jacques Villeret and André Dussollier, two of French cinema’s most popular performers, are reunited for the umpteenth time in this bittersweet morality tale from director Jean Becker.  As in Becker’s earlier film, Les Enfants du marais, Effroyables jardins is a simple yet moving film, whose naive cinematographic style subtly emphasises the stark poetry in its narrative.  Villeret and Dussollier, as ever, give great value, making this a particularly poignant film which most audiences will have little difficulty identifying with.

Although technically well made and overall aesthetically pleasing, the film is not without its faults. As with many of Becker’s recent films, there is touch of complacency and familiarity which robs of the film of some of its conviction.  At some times early on in the film, Effroyables jardins feels more like a happy reunion for the cast and production crew of Les Enfants du marais than an a standalone comedy-drama.  Even in its moments of dramatic tension later on in the film it is quite hard for a spectator to take the situation seriously and sympathise with the characters.

Yet, in the second half, the film suddenly makes its mark.  We suddenly begin to feel for the characters, to notice in the film’s direct, even clumsy style, a raw humanity which is becoming increasingly rare in modern cinema.  Whereas the first half of the film may leave you mildly amused but pretty lukewarm, the film’s second half, with a tone far darker than anything seen in Jean Becker’s work to date, will almost certainly leave a lasting impression.  Rather like the nauseating little boy in the film, you begin by slightly disliking its author, but, once the story has been told, you have to look on him with renewed admiration.

It can surely be no coincidence that the film has a strong resonance with Le Trou, the final film made by Jean Becker’s father, Jacques (the same name as the main character in the film).  But is it also a coincidence that Becker decided to allow his own son, Louis, to produce the film?  Effroyables jardins may not be the most striking work in Jean Becker’s short filmography but one suspects that it is, for the director, one which has great personal significance.

© James Travers 2004

Write a review for this film...

What do you think of this film?