Michou d’Auber (2007) - film review

France, 1960.  When his mother falls seriously ill, nine-year-old Messaoud proves to be too much of a burden for his father.  He is placed with a foster family and renamed Michou by his foster mother Gisèle, who is afraid of what people in her village, including her husband, a retired soldier, may think.  This is not a good time to have North African ancestry – thanks to the events taking place in Algeria.  Gisèle’s deception works for a time and she is delighted when her husband Georges treats Michou as though he were his own son.   But then the truth is revealed...

With its poignant story about a young Moslem boy gaining the acceptance and love of his French foster family in the early 1960s, Michou d’Auber ought to be a sure-fire hit that should have no difficulty moving its audience to tears.  Unfortunately, its realisation is so badly handled, so uninspired, that the only movement it can arouse in the unfortunate spectator is in the direction of the door in the cinema hall marked "exit".

Thomas Gilou is far from being an inexperienced director – he has scored some notable critical and commercial successes with films such as Rai (1995) and La vérité si je mens! 2 (2001).  But here he seems to be just going through the motions of making a film, adopting a painting by numbers approach, and the result is something which, although competently made, lacks any real soul.

The film’s biggest let down is Gérard Depardieu, who singularly fails to make his character  either believable or sympathetic.  His performance, totally lacking in subtlety and charm, would be risible even in a third-rate children’s television series.  With Depardieu setting the standard at floor level, none of his fellow cast members are able to rise much above it, and even Nathalie Baye (an actress who is usually beyond reproach) struggles to make her character convincing.

Through a combination of lousy acting and half-hearted efforts on both the screenwriting and directing fronts, Michou d’Auber is a grade A let down.  What really offends, though, is the use of sugar-coated schmaltz and ill-judged histrionics as a cheap substitute for genuine emotion.  With its two hour run time, the film is an ordeal and a half to sit through – and it is hardly worth the effort.

© filmsdefrance.com 2009

Write a review for this film...

What do you think of this film?