Marie-Line (2000)

Marie-Line is a French film first released in 2000, directed by Mehdi Charef.  The film stars Muriel Robin, Fejria Deliba, Valérie Stroh, Yan Epstein and Gilles Treton.  Our overall rating for this film is: good.


Marie-Line is a tough middle-aged woman who leads a team of cleaners in a large out-of-town supermarket.  Cost-cutting measures forces her to recruit illegal immigrants, whom she works hard for very little pay.  Despite her own personal problems – her marriage is failing and she is associated with extreme right-wing politics – she begins to sympathise with her workers.  In the end, she puts her own job on the line by doing what little she can to help them.

This modest social-realist film from director Mehdi Charef tackles a number of themes relating to racial intolerance and social exclusion with compassion and insight.  The film’s impact arises mainly from a convincing performance from Marie Robin, who plays the central character, Marie-Line, as if she had lived the part all her life.  Although the film is uneven and many of the secondary characters appear somewhat two-dimensional, there are a number of powerful scenes which leave a lasting impact on the spectator (including the traumatic birth in the locked elevator and Marie-Line’s arrival at the isolated farmhouse).   Whilst Charef has yet to achieve the standing of other great social realist directors, Marie-Line suggests that he may be heading in that direction.

© James Travers 2003

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