Un coeur simple (2008) - film review

Félicité is a young woman who is born to love others.  She loves generously, without any thought of self-interest, but little of what she gives so freely is returned to her.  A brief romance with an egoistical man named Théodore comes to nothing.  Madame Obain, the woman who engages her to look after her house and her two children, rebukes her for her shows of sentiment.  The only one who is suited to receive her love is Victor, her young nephew – but even he is taken from her...

Un coeur simple is an inspired adaptation of one of Gustave Flaubert lesser known works, a short story which, like his better known Madame Bovary, is concerned with a woman’s yearning for an unattainable passion.  It is the first full length film to be directed by Marion Laine and in places it does show the telltale signs of a first film – in its uneven narrative, the poorly developed secondary characters and one or two artistic over-indulgences (such as the unnecessary use of slow motion photography). 

Over all, however, the film has much to commend it.  Intense, introspective performances from Sandrine Bonnaire and Marina Foïs convey the torment and quiet despair of two women who fail to find fulfilment in their lives and whose only solace is their uneasy companionship.  Meanwhile, the sets and naturalistic photography perfectly evoke Flaubert’s sombre world of rural hardship and bourgeois artificiality.  Whilst the film may lack the force and humanity of Flaubert’s writing, it is still a strangely compelling and moving work, pleasing with its understated poetry and moments of exquisite poignancy.

© filmsdefrance.com 2009

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