Pas de scandale (1999) - film review

A company director Grégoire Jeancourt has just completed a stretch in prison for fraud.   When they meet him, his family are struck by how changed he is – withdrawn and having a childlike reticence.  His brother, a journalist, suggests that he give an interview on television to help his return to public life. Grégoire accepts but during the interview cannot say a word.  By chance, he meets his wife’s hairdresser, whose boyfriend has also just come out of prison, and he at last manages to articulate his thoughts…

In common with many of Benoit Jacquot’s films, Pas de scandale is an intensely sombre character study centred around one person experiencing a mid-life crisis.  This time, his subject is a company executive who is attempting to rebuild his life after serving a prison sentence which has destroyed not just his public reputation but his self confidence.

The film is to some extent successful in portraying the impact of a prison sentence on someone who previously enjoyed the privilege of wealth and public esteem. Fabrice Luchini would seem to be an unlikely choice for this role, but he is actually very well cast, and his uncharacteristically withdrawn, subtle performance is probably the main reason for watching the film.

Unfortunately, apart from Luchini’s performance, the film is something of a disappointment.  Not only does it feel contrived and artificial, lacking warmth and humanity, but the plot relies far too heavily on unlikely coincidences and unconvincing developments.   The film lacks the poignant realism and focus of Jacquot’s earlier triumphs, failing to engage the audience,  even when the director has such stars as Isabelle Huppert and Vincent Lindon at his disposal.

© James Travers 2001

Write a review for this film...

What do you think of this film?