Le Ventre de Juliette (2003) - film review

In Marseilles, Juliette and Mathias, both from rough, working class backgrounds, are madly in love.  But when Juliette reveals that she is pregnant, Mathias is shocked and ends their relationship.  No one seems to want the unborn baby – even Juliette’s mother, a former actress who is now reduced to running a small boutique, advises her to have an abortion.  Juliette is on the brink of despair.  And then, one day, a stranger her life…

Martin Provost’s second full-length film (after his 1997 comedy-drama Tortilla Y Cinema) is this beautifully realised and exquisitely poignant social realist drama, set in a working class area of Marseilles (but a world apart from the sun-drenched Marseilles of contemporary director Robert Guédiguian).

Rigorously free of sentimentality, the film is cruel, honest, and occasionally funny; it tells a simple story, but is rich in character detail, and says so much about the kind of world we now live in.   Julie-Marie Parmentier is not just convincing as a young woman trying to face up to an unwanted pregnancy – she is captivating and, in a few sequences, heart breaking.  Provost’s portrayal if Juliette’s world is at first  depressing, but, like the sun breaking through the clouds, the mood changes and the film concludes on a note of optimism, whilst still retaining the keen realist edge.

Even though Provost eschews poetry and style in favour of stark realism, his film is poetic in its raw simplicity and in its moving, point-of-view depiction of a young woman’s sense of isolation at a time when help and comfort are most needed.  The only thing that doesn’t quite ring true is the way in which the character Léonard is introduced into the narrative (although Tom Novembre’s sympathetic portrayal makes it easy to overlook this one plot contrivance).

In summary, Le Ventre de Juliette is an engaging, socially relevant drama which is composed with artistic talent and genuine human tenderness.   An excellent cast (which includes noteworthy contributions from Stéphane Rideau, Carmen Maura and Ariane Ascaride), coupled with some effective, very moody photography, allows Martin Provost to make his mark as an auteur with this highly recommended film.

© James Travers 2005

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