Marie-Line (2000) - film review

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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