Elles (1997)

Elles is a French romantic film drama first released in 1997, directed by Luís Galvão Teles.  The film stars Miou-Miou, Carmen Maura, Marthe Keller, Marisa Berenson and Guesch Patti.  It has also been released under the title: Women.  Our overall rating for this film is: mediocre.


Linda is a busy television presenter who, along with her four female friends, is the wrong side of 40 and heading for a mid-life crisis.  Linda’s pre-occupation with her job costs her her boyfriend.  Barbara is divorced and discovers she may have a terminal illness.  Eva, a college teacher, is having an affair with one of her students. Chloé discovers she is attracted to Branca, who is a man-mad actress who has no time for her drug addict daughter.  By facing their problems together, all of the women manage to muddle through.

This bitter-sweet romantic comedy looks at the problem of female menopause through the inter-twining lives of five quite different women.  Despite the fact that all of the actresses playing the five female leads are nearer to 50 than 40, and despite the unconvincing location (why was the film set in Lisbon instead of Paris?), this is an engaging film which, providing you don’t look too deeply beyond the surface gloss, is a mildly entertaining affair.

The film is probably most memorable for Carmen Maura’s spirited performance as Linda.  Charisma on legs, she is clearly the focus of attention, helped by the fact that she gets the best lines and funniest situations.  The story strand involving Miou-Miou’s character is also quite strong, capturing the tragic poignancy of a relationship between a middle-aged woman and a far younger man very well.

Other parts of the film are less successful, however.  The characters Chloé and Branca appear superfluous to requirements and really just provide an irritation distraction from the other story strands.  Overall, the film feels somewhat superficial, probably as a result of having just too many characters, most of  whom are simply not developed in enough depth to appear credible.  Also, the attitudes of the women towards men is typical 1990s stereotyping, something which should have been considered passé when the film was made.

© James Travers 2000

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