Summary
During a business trip to Nantes, Emilie loses her way and asks a
stranger, Gabriel, for directions. Gabriel feels instantly drawn
to the attractive young woman and offers her a lift in his van.
Emilie, who is equally taken with this kind, good-looking stranger,
cannot refuse. They meet up again later that day and have a meal
together. When the time comes to go their separate ways, Gabriel
decides to offer Emilie a parting kiss, but to his surprise she holds
herself back. Sensing Gabriel’s disappointment, Emilie begins to
recount the experiences of two acquaintances of hers. Nicolas and
Judith have been friends for many years. Both are in a steady
relationship, but both are dissatisfied with their respective
partners. When Nicolas becomes aware that he no longer feels for
his girlfriend as intensely as he once did, he turns to Judith for
help. Within no time at all, Nicolas and Judith are consumed by a
passionate love affair that will greatly impact the lives of six
people - all because of a seemingly innocent little kiss...
Review
Emmanuel Mouret’s follow-up to his popular Changement d’adresse (2006) is
a similarly amiable romantic comedy, one that injects a healthy shot of
originality, not to mention some measure of respectability, into the
well-worn rom-com formula. For all its apparent whimsy and
gossamer lightness of touch, Un
baiser s’il vous plait offers a surprisingly profound
meditation on the complexities of love and desire and is Mouret’s most
sophisticated and incisive film to date. The film employs the
device of a story within a story to great effect, framing a humorous
romantic adventure (in which Mouret, a very competent and likeable
actor, takes centre stage) within a more serious amorous
encounter. The framed story and the one that surrounds it are
almost mirror images of one another - the first is playfully witty,
with characters that are caricatured almost to the level of a Feydeau
farce, the second is more sombre and realist in style, yet both convey
the same message, that there is no such thing as an innocent
kiss.
As ever, Mouret chooses his actors with great care, ensuring that his intelligent screenplay is complemented by performances of the highest calibre. Virginie Ledoyen, too often overlooked in recent years, is the perfect foil to Mouret’s inept lover (who somehow manages to look like the discarded love child of Jacques Tati and Mr Bean). Mouret’s intellectual, deadpan humour presents some obvious challenges but Ledoyen nails her character perfectly, and by downplaying the humour and the sentiment to near-homeopathic proportions she gives her verbally diarrhetic but emotionally constipated co-star the perfect sidekick, the Paulette Goddard to Mouret’s Chaplin. The mating ritual which the über-gauche Mouret and the quietly smouldering Ledoyen embark on may have a parodic pantomime-like feel to it, yet it still has a ring of truth, and provides an effective contrast with the film’s other romantic entanglement. The latter is played to devastating effect by another hugely talented duo, Julie Gayet and Michaël Cohen, who definitely deserve a re-match in a sequel.
A great lover of classical music (evidenced by his use of such in his films), Mouret constructs his films as though they were symphonies, each episode being a movement with its own distinctive mood and tempo. This is probably what makes his films so rich and engaging, whilst allowing him to indulge his mania for generous verbiage without losing his audience’s interest. Mouret’s work has often been likened to that of Truffaut and Rohmer, but it is not unreasonable to compare him with that other master of the romantic comedy, Ernst Lubitsch. There is a quality to Mouret’s writing and direction - a sense of the absurd coupled with a probing intelligence and genuine unfussy tenderness - that is distinctly Lubitsch-esque. Like Lubitsch, Mouret shows us the supreme beauty and tragedy of love through the unlikely medium of farce, exposing life’s cruel ironies not by yanking on our heartstrings like an importunate child, but by making us laugh at the distorted reflection of our own experiences.
© James Travers 2010
Write a review for this film...
As ever, Mouret chooses his actors with great care, ensuring that his intelligent screenplay is complemented by performances of the highest calibre. Virginie Ledoyen, too often overlooked in recent years, is the perfect foil to Mouret’s inept lover (who somehow manages to look like the discarded love child of Jacques Tati and Mr Bean). Mouret’s intellectual, deadpan humour presents some obvious challenges but Ledoyen nails her character perfectly, and by downplaying the humour and the sentiment to near-homeopathic proportions she gives her verbally diarrhetic but emotionally constipated co-star the perfect sidekick, the Paulette Goddard to Mouret’s Chaplin. The mating ritual which the über-gauche Mouret and the quietly smouldering Ledoyen embark on may have a parodic pantomime-like feel to it, yet it still has a ring of truth, and provides an effective contrast with the film’s other romantic entanglement. The latter is played to devastating effect by another hugely talented duo, Julie Gayet and Michaël Cohen, who definitely deserve a re-match in a sequel.
A great lover of classical music (evidenced by his use of such in his films), Mouret constructs his films as though they were symphonies, each episode being a movement with its own distinctive mood and tempo. This is probably what makes his films so rich and engaging, whilst allowing him to indulge his mania for generous verbiage without losing his audience’s interest. Mouret’s work has often been likened to that of Truffaut and Rohmer, but it is not unreasonable to compare him with that other master of the romantic comedy, Ernst Lubitsch. There is a quality to Mouret’s writing and direction - a sense of the absurd coupled with a probing intelligence and genuine unfussy tenderness - that is distinctly Lubitsch-esque. Like Lubitsch, Mouret shows us the supreme beauty and tragedy of love through the unlikely medium of farce, exposing life’s cruel ironies not by yanking on our heartstrings like an importunate child, but by making us laugh at the distorted reflection of our own experiences.
© James Travers 2010
Write a review for this film...
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Useful links
- Best French films of 2011
- Best French films of the 2000s
- Best of the French New Wave
- Best of French film comedy
- The best 100 French films
- The most successful French films
- Great French filmmakers
Related links
- The best French comedy-dramas
- Other French films of the 2000s
- The best French films of the 2000s
- Other French comedy-dramas
- Biography and films of Emmanuel Mouret
To buy this film
Check DVD and Blu-ray availability:
Credits
- Director: Emmanuel Mouret
- Script: Emmanuel Mouret
- Photo: Laurent Desmet
- Cast: Virginie Ledoyen (Judith), Emmanuel Mouret (Nicolas), Julie Gayet (Émilie), Michaël Cohen (Gabriel), Frédérique Bel (Caline), Stefano Accorsi (Claudio), Mélanie Maudran (Pénélope), Marie Madinier (Églantine), Lucciana de Vogüe (Louise)
- Country: France
- Language: French
- Runtime: 100 min
- Aka: Shall We Kiss?
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- Holy Lola (2004)
- L’Homme de sa vie (2006)
- Mademoiselle (2001)
- Nationale 7 (2000)
- Papa (2005)
- Parlez-moi de la pluie (2008)
- Quand la mer monte... (2004)
- Le Renard et l’enfant (2007)
- Swing (2002)
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Comedy / Drama / Romance






