Film Review
Comment je me suis disputé... (ma vie sexuelle) offers a pretty
morbid take on the theme of the mid-life crisis but, with some superbly nuanced
writing and a high-calibre cast, it makes a compelling, albeit
somewhat depressing, exploration of the male menopause in its early stages.
It was with this film that Arnaud Desplechin demonstrated his flair
both as a writer and director and immediately established himself as one of French
cinema's leading auteurs in the mid-1990s. It remains one of his
most perceptive and authentic films to date.
© James Travers 2001
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Next Arnaud Desplechin film:
Esther Kahn (2000)
Film Synopsis
Paul Dédalus is fast approaching thirty when he realises the mess
he has made of his life. Saddled with an assistant teaching job at
Nanterre university that he has come to loathe, he struggles to complete
his thesis whilst agonising over whether he should end his relationship with
Esther, the woman he has been living with for ten years. Paul has ample
opportunity to offload his worries on to his psychiatrist and coterie of
loyal friends, but he still remains stuck in a soul-crushing impasse, traumsatised
by childhood memories and unsure what he is to do next.
Paul has a brief affair with Sylvia, the partner of his best friend Nathan,
but this seems to resolve nothing and leaves him even more aware of his inadequacies.
The unexpected appointment of a former friend and academic rival of his,
Frédéric Rabier, to a post in his department merely worsens
his mood. Paul's own professional and emotional woes are exacerbated
further by the problems of those who are nearest to him, notably his cousin
Bob, who shares his abode and is similarly coping with a failing relationship
that has long outstayed its welcome. Meanwhile, as he mulls over
how to rid himself of his present partner, Paul finds he is being fanatically
pursued by another woman, Valérie. She appears determined to
make a conquest of him, even though her present lover is a close friend of
Paul's...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.