Notre univers impitoyable (2008) - film review

Margot and Victor would appear to be the perfect couple.  They share not only their private life but also work together in the same prestigious law firm.  They could not be happier – until the day when their head of department dies.  Both find themselves candidates for his replacement, and both are determined to get the job.  As they wait for the critical decision to be made, Margot and Victor reflect on how the promotion will affect their future lives.  Could it spell the end of their relationship...?

1993 saw the release of a pair of films by Alais Resnais entitled Smoking / No Smoking which showed us two possible outcomes arising from a single decision.  Notre univers impitoyable employs a similar narrative device but instead of two films we have one, in which the two alternative realities run in parallel.  On the face of it, this sounds like a brilliant idea, but the difficulties quickly become apparent when you watch the film and struggle to mentally untangle the two storylines.  Very quickly, the film becomes incoherent and the two stories soon merge into a confusing and irritating muddle.  That, however, is not the film’s biggest failing...  

What is most disappointing about this film is that it falls back on the most tired clichés imaginable, revealing a breathtaking lack of imagination in the screenwriting.  The career girl allows herself to be seduced by her predatory older boss; the career boy succumbs to the irresistible lure of his secretary and fast cars.  The performances are respectable (apart from Lhermitte who, yet again, is woefully miscast) but these are undermined by some weak characterisation and the fact that neither of the lead characters is remotely sympathetic.  

The film was directed by Léa Fazer, who, its faults not withstanding, shows great promise as  an original filmmaker.   As in her previous, début, film, Bienvenue en Suisse (2004), Fazer succeeds in creating a world that matches the subject of her film - here the cold, impersonal and insincere world of office politics and career junkies.  Unfortunately, this grimly cynical mood and lacklustre setting merely aggravate the film’s lack of charm and create an impression of a fatal lack of substance.

© James Travers 2008

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