Peau d’homme coeur de bête (1999) - film review

Discharged from the police for assaulting a prostitute, Francky retreats to the family homestead in the country, where his elderly mother and younger brother Alex live with his two young daughters (the product of a broken marriage).  Soon after, Franky’s elder brother turns up after a fifteen year absence, claiming to have spent all that time in the Foreign Legion.  Old enmities resurface as the relationship between the three brothers becomes increasingly strained...

This début film from Hélène Angel is a spirited attempt to portray the tensions and passions in a dysfunctional family.  Despite strong performances from most of the cast (notably Bernard Blancan), the film is hampered by weak characterisation which renders the plot absurdly unbelievable.  Very little attempt is made at rationalising why the characters behave as they do – the men are played as violent brutes, the women as either victims or prostitutes who deserve what they get.  The film also has no clear focus, seemingly trying to present the story from various perspectives, which merely weakens its coherence.  What is most frustrating is that you just know there is a better film here, but the whole thing is sadly ruined by its self-conscious excesses and insulting naiveté.

© James Travers 2002

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