Nouvelle chance (2006) - film review

Some years after his momentous visit to the Orient, Augustin Dos Santos returns to France with his young family and gets a job as a swimming pool attendant in a posh hotel.  His real passion in life is the theatre, and he is delighted when he wins a commission from a Swedish company to mount a typically French play.  By chance, he meets an elderly woman, Odette Saint-Gilles, who was once a successful actress and singer.  She proposes a classic work which Augustin instantly falls in love with.  The only problem is that he needs to hire someone to play the second female role.  Again by chance, Augustin runs into Bettina Fleischer, the star of a popular historical television series.  Bettina willingly accepts the part that Augustin offers her.  However, once the rehearsals begin, Odette becomes annoyed by Bettina’s determination to bring the play up-to-date...

After a series of stylishly shot dark psychological dramas, Nouvelle chance marks a distinct change for director Anne Fontaine.  With a far more naturalistic, intimate style, the film is a much more conventional French comedy-drama, one that explores the transient nature of love and celebrity through the experiences of three generations of actor.  The film also sees the long-awaited return of Augustin Dos Santos, affectionately played by Fontaine’s brother, Jean-Chrétien Sibertin-Blanc, who was last seen starting a family in Augustin, roi du Kung-fu (1999).  Here, perhaps disappointingly, Augustin isn’t so much the central character but a fairly crude plot device for bringing together the main players in the drama.

The film’s main narrative thrust is the contrast between Odette and Bettina, played by Danielle Darrieux and Arielle Dombasle – Fontaine’s most impressive piece of casting to date.  Odette is at the very end of her career and, not surprisingly, has a very different view of life and her art from Bettina, a confident beauty who is at the height of her popularity.  As they work together, the two women learn more about themselves and Bettina soon realises that Odetta is her future.  Both actresses serve the film with impeccable performances, and it’s easy to think that Anne Fontaine wrote the piece with them in mind, so truthful, believable and moving is the characterisation.

Nouvelle chance is a thoughful and engaging production, but it lacks the sparkle and ingenuity of Fontaine’s  previous films.  It’s a shame that Augustin (a marvellous comic creation somewhere between Monsieur Hulot and Mr Bean) is so peripheral to the story, particularly when Jean-Chrétien Sibertin-Blanc plays him so brilliantly.  Let’s hope that he will make a further appearance in the not too distant future.  The main selling point of this film has to be Danielle Darrieux.  She captures the irony and tragedy of growing old with great poignancy; you could expect nothing less from France’s greatest living actress.

© James Travers 2007

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