L’Homme est une femme comme les autres (1998) - film review

Simon Eskanazy is a gay man from a Jewish background who just about scrapes a living as a musician in Paris.  To preserve the family name, his Uncle Salomon tries to bribe him into getting married – but Simon refuses.  Then he meets a beautiful Jewish singer, Rosalie, who looks as if she would make the perfect wife…

If you don’t probe too deeply, L’Homme est une femmecomme les autres is an engaging little French comedy-drama which tackles some complex issues with originality and sensitivity.   An impressive cast is headed Antoine de Caunes and Elsa Zylberstein, both of whom shine in their respective roles.  De Caunes is rarely as sympathetic and charming as he is in this film, playing a gay Jewish man in a complex personal dilemma with surprising depth and conviction.  Zylberstein is equally as impressive, not just complementing De Caunes perfectly, but bringing star quality to what is rather an average film.

The film’s mixture of downbeat comedy and sentimental drama is not entirely satisfactory – although where the film tries to be funny it succeeds in being very funny.  With most of the comedy in the first half, the film appears slightly unbalanced – although this is not too great a sin, since the quality of the drama in the second half makes up for that.   The film’s long, tautological title and provocative poster are much more difficult to forgive.

Quietly sophisticated and unpretentious, this is a modest little film about the absurdities of convention and romantic love which skilfully avoids getting too profound. Although the film’s characters are Jews, and there are a lot of references to Jewish culture, this is not central to the film and should not put off a potential spectator.  The film is really about the conflict between social conventions and individual freedom – which it explores, with a great deal of fun, and some touching poignancy.

© James Travers 2003

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