Western (1997) - film review

When a Spanish sales rep Paco Cazale gives a lift to a Russian hitch-hiker, Nino, his life takes an unexpected turn.  First he is stranded when Nino drives off with his car.  Then he falls in love with the young woman, Marinette, who kindly offers to drive him to the nearest town.  Next, Nino reappears and, having beaten him to a pulp, Paco makes friends with him, in spite of the fact that Nino has cost him his job.  After a whirlwind romance, Marinette asks Paco if they can separate for three weeks, to test how strong their love is.    Paco reluctantly agrees and accepts Nino’s suggestion to “hit the road”, hitch-hiking their way across north-western France.  En route, the two friends experience a series of amorous adventures, although Paco appears far more successful with the ladies than Nino...

Winner of the Jury Prize at the Cannes film festival in 1997, Western provides an incisive, witty and sometimes poignant portrayal of love and friendship from a male perspective, in the guise of an off-beat road movie.  The film succeeds mainly on the strength of the performances of the two lead actors, Sergi Lopez and Sacha Bourdo.  The two men complement each other perfectly (Lopez is the timid but successful womaniser, whilst Sacha is the out-spoken philosopher, yet a no-hoper when it comes to women).  In addition, they seem to embody the essence of the film – the need to be free yet, at the same time, to be tied to the ideal woman, an existentialist dilemma that has plagued man since Adam first hitched up with Eve all those years ago.

One of the most striking things about this film is that it employs no big name actors and, more tellingly, the two principal roles are played by non-French actors (Lopez is Spanish, Bourdo a Russian).  This not only emphasises the film’s realism (and ultimately its impact on the spectator), but allows us to experience French society from the perspective of the outsider.  Non-French speaking audiences will share the plight of Paco and Nino perhaps more than their French-speaking counterparts – this a rare case of a foreign language film possibly having a far greater impact on its audience in an another country to the one in which it was made.

Whilst the film is generally charming, with some memorable comic elements (such as Paco’s outrageous but brilliant idea of using a door-to-door survey to find a soul-mate for Nino), a few scenes appear slow and laboured, with some dialogue looking as if has been badly improvised.  (This could explain why the film was cut, by around ten minutes, for its American release.)   Depending on your frame of mind, such indulgences are easily accepted, fitting the naturalistic style of the film, or else a mild irritation.

Overall, though, it has to be said that Western is a fine film, beautifully filmed (in Brittany), with strong performances and an engaging story which is told well.  As the film coasts along at its unhurried pace, it takes us on a leisurely journey of self-discovery, in a way that perhaps only French cinema can.

© James Travers 2003

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