Errance (2003)
Directed by Damien Odoul

Film Review

Damien Odoul's second full-length film after his notable début work, Le Souffle (2001) is a major disappointment and fails in just about every department.  In common with a lot of young filmmakers recently, Odoul appears to be far more preoccupied with cinematic style than in constructing a credible, coherent narrative - to the point of alienating anyone who watches the film.  This wouldn't have been so bad if Odoul gave us something radically new - some starkly innovative artistic vision or daring use of technique, but he doesn't.  It all feels horribly second-hand, and the lack of anything approaching a storyline makes the histrionic performances and laboured directorial style almost unbearable.  The whole film looks like a rather half-hearted home video recording - ugly, uneven, badly constructed and rather vacuous.  Laetitia Casta's performance is at least engaging, the only thing that prevents the film from being totally unwatchable, but her co-star, Benoît Magimel (otherwise a fine actor), constantly looks as if he'd rather be somewhere else.   The thing that really offends, however, is the awful, gut-wrenchingly pretentious ending - which, intended to evoke pangs of sympathy, merely provokes howls of derision.

Film Synopsis

When his girlfriend Lou bears him a son, Jacques promises to give up his wayward existence of debauchery and petty crime to start a new life.  They move to the South of France, where Jacques finds work as an estate agent whilst Lou takes care of their son.  The idyll lasts only a short time, however.  Within a few years, Jacques has returned to his old ways…