Le Soleil au-dessus des nuages (2001) - film review

For Jean, a fifty-something bachelor, his only pleasure is to make life unbearable for those around him.  He insults his neighbour, is rude to strangers, and treats his colleagues at work with contempt.  His behaviour ultimately costs him his job and he finds himself completely alone and at a loose end.  One day, his life takes a sudden and unexpected change when he meets Antoine, a young man, an aspiring magician who practices meditation.  Jean offers Antoine a lift to the town where he was heading to visit his sick uncle.  Antoine accepts willingly and, through a series of mishaps, he and Jean become close friends.  By chance, Jean meets up with an old flame, Virginie, and has the possibility of starting a new life...

This heart-warming film about a man who, nearing the end of his life, discovers the better side of human nature marks an impressive directoral debut for Eric Le Roch.  A film which is both entertaining and deeply moving, Le Soleil au-dessus des nuages reveals an unexpected talent in its director and also its lead actor, Daniel Prévost.

Prévost gives an enchanting performance as the film’s central character (a fifty-year old misanthope who is transformed by the power of friendship) in what is quite possibly his best (and most substantial) screen role to date.    There is something magical about his on-screen rapport with his co-star Serge Hazanavicius (who plays the younger character Antoine with great humanity and conviction), something which makes watching this film a pleasurable and uplifting experience.  It is not easy to get across the idea of a friendship between two male characters without hinting at sexual undertones.  The film works mainly because we are convinced of the purity of the relationship between Jean and Antoine – a far more subtle kind of love to the one we are used to seeing in films.

Admittedly the film’s optimistic tone doesn’t always ring true – and Jean’s conversion from Mr Nasty to Mr Nice isn’t totally convincing.  The root cause of Jean’s inability to live with others is hinted at – through some odd dream sequences – but not satisfactorily accounted for.  The film’s lighter moments work well with its moments of darker introspection, leading us feel something for its protagonists without descending to the level of tacky sentimentality.   With its amusing and humanistic treatment of a sadly familiar situation (with more than a touch of Dicken’s A Christmas Carol about it), Le Soleil au-dessus des nuages is a delightful parable of a film.

© James Travers 2003

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