L’Occitanienne (2008) - film review

One stormy evening in 1829, the ageing writer René de Chateaubriand takes refuge in a mountain retreat at Cauterets, a small town in the Pyrenees.  Here, he meets Léontine de Villeneuve, an aristocratic woman forty years his junior who ignites his passion and who seems to be as equally attracted to him.  Under the watchful gaze of the maître d’hôtel, Chateaubriand embarks on what will be his last great love affair, with a woman he will later refer to in his writings as L’Occitanienne...

The limits of romantic love are explored with delicacy and tenderness in this sombre reconstruction of a real-life event, the brief meeting of the French writer René de Chateaubriand with an ardent young admirer.  It is a beautifully ironic story, for although Chateaubriand is able to arouse a burning passion in others through his literary achievements, he himself has lost the physical and spiritual yearning for love.  The revelatory rencontre of an old man and his muse in an appropriately dark, stormy mountain hotel evokes with a searing poignancy the transience and boundaries of human experience.

L’Occitanienne is the first cinematic feature to be directed by Jean Périssé, who had previously made several documentaries for television and who is very much devoted to the Pyrenees, the region where he lives.  Through his subtle and elegant mise-en-scène, Périssé shows great promise as a filmmaker, although his efforts are compromised a little in this film by some unnecessary clichés and the distracting inclusion of many cutaway shots of the Pyrenean setting, both of which diminish the intensity of the central drama.

The quality of Périssé’s suitably restrained direction is enhanced by the striking chiaroscuro cinematography (which was presumably inspired by French paintings of the period) and sublime performances from the three principals, with a particularly arresting contribution from Valentine Teisseire in her auspicious film debut.  Despite its modest scope and limited budget,  L’Occitanienne manages to be captivating work, a compelling chamber piece that feels like an Ingmar Bergman film seen through the distinctive prism of French romanticism.

© James Travers 2010

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