Les Mots bleus (2005) - film review

Haunted by memories of her troubled childhood, Clara finds it hard to live a normal adult life.  It does not help that she has to bring up her daughter Anna alone, a daughter who has been dumb since birth.   When Anna has difficulty settling into an ordinary school, Clara has her transferred to a special school for deaf and dumb children, where the young girl receives the care and attention she needs from her instructor Vincent.  Anna’s new lease of life begins to unsettle Clara, who fears that she may be in the process of losing the one thing that has kept her going, her daughter’s total dependency on her.  Vincent himself has deep rooted psychological problems, stemming from a painful past, and he finds in Clara someone in whom he can at last confide.  Clara, however, is not ready to start a relationship.  For her, the adult world is too hard to cope with...

A sombre and contemplative film, Les Mots bleus offers a poignant depiction of three very different people who are tormented by an inability to communicate with others.  This is a rare departure into the realm of social realist melodrama for its director Alain Corneau, who is best known for his stylish policier thrillers, such as Police Python 357 (1976), the cult black comedy Série noire (1979) and a distinctive historical drama Tous les matins du monde (1991).   

The film’s main strength is its cast, which includes two highly regarded stalwarts of French cinema, Sylvie Testud, who featured in Corneau’s previous film Stupeur et tremblements (2003), and Sergi López, who will forever be remembered as the friend from Hell in Dominik Moll’s 2000 film Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien.  Both actors live up to their reputation in this film, each conveying with sincerity and realism the anguish of a life that is scarred by past experience and present insecurities.

Although Les Mots bleus is a compelling and moving film, beautifully shot by cinematographer Yves Angelo, it has one or two flaws that diminish its impact.  The title song by popular singer Christophe is used to excess as background music throughout the film, ruining the mood of several sequences, with the unnecessary voiceover narration having a similar effect.  Whilst the main characters are convincingly played, they are overdeveloped, with so much back story that the film ultimately begins to feel very, very contrived.  And then there is the scene with the talking bird, a flight of fancy the film could have well done without.  Despite these obvious blemishes, Les Mots bleus still manages to be a beguiling little film, and one that does nothing to diminish Alain Corneau’s standing as one of France’s most gifted and versatile filmmakers.

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