Film Review
It wasn't until her fourth film that Josiane Balasko (already
long-established as a comedic actress of considerable talent) finally
found her voice as a film director and screenwriter. That film,
Gazon maudit (a.k.a.
French Twist), has become something
of a cult classic and was a surprising box office hit on its first
release, attracting an audience of just under four million in France
and achieving considerable success abroad. This is in spite of
the fact that the film deals with a subject which was, and still is to
some extent, a taboo in French cinema - lesbianism. Hence
the film's mischievous title (gazon = lawn, but not the kind you
grow daffodils in).
Thanks partly to her former association with the comedy troupe
Splendid, Josiane Balasko is
renowned for her crude, low brow style of comedy, so, given the film's
subject matter, you'd think she would serve up another helping of bad
taste and tacky clichés (much as she had done in her previous
three films). Things do not bode well when
Gazon maudit begins by introducing
three stock comedy caricatures - the over-sexed estate agent, the bored
housewife and the portly dyke who's a dab hand with a spanner and sink
plunger. But, very quickly, Balasko subverts our expectations and
turns what first appears to be a predictable
ménage-à-trois farce
into a sophisticated romantic comedy that resonates with truth.
Balasko received a César for her screenplay, and rightly so, but
her direction is also worthy of praise, as is her sympathetic and
amusing portrayal of a spunky lesbian who proves to be a match for any
male chauvinistic pig. Far from being shallow and crude,
Gazon maudit impresses as a classy
little comedy, a film that was to the 1990s almost what
La Cage aux folles had been to
the 1970s, thankfully without the crass campery and hideous pantomimic
stereotyping.
Admirably supported by two other fine comedic actors, Victoria Abril
and Alain Chabat, Josiane Balsko delivers a lively and original comedy
that, as well as being tirelessly funny throughout, makes some pretty
scathing observations on the way that the prevailing mindset of macho
heterosexual superiority inhibits individual freedom and
relationships. Chabat's character is the archetypal Alpha Male,
the kind that expects his wife to remain dutifully faithful to him
whilst he spends all of his days seducing any female that comes within
shouting distance. His loathing for lesbians is presumably down
to the fact that he feels threatened by a woman he knows he cannot
possess. For a man who is a slave to his libido, a gay woman is
the ultimate ball-breaker, all the more so if she has the physique of a
medium-weight wrestler.
When the adorable Abril ends up in bed with the butch Balasko we are as
shocked as Chabat, but once we begin to see past the stereotypes a far
richer study in human behaviour emerges. These are three
characters who have hitherto lived as two-dimensional archetypes, like
protagonists in a shoddy primetime sitcom, and are just beginning to
understand what their real needs are. With its recurring bouts of
catfights, name calling and head-butts,
Gazon maudit may resemble the usual
conflict comedy but it is actually a far more substantial piece than
this - one in which a group of childish, self-serving individuals
develop into compassionate, fulfilled adults as they learn to rise
above their prejudices. In between the outlandish comic outbursts
there are some moments of surprising depth and poignancy, most notably
the scene in which Chabat receives a few words of wisdom from an ageing
prostitute (Catherine Samie). The ending may perhaps bring one
twist too many, but overall
Gazon
maudit is a well-conceived comedy with far more substance than
your average mainstream French crowdpleaser - the best thing Josiane
Balsko has contributed to the art of cinema so far.
© James Travers 2013
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Next Josiane Balasko film:
L'Ex-femme de ma vie (2004)
Film Synopsis
Laurent, a successful estate agent, and his wife Loli have two children, a nice house
in the South of France and appear to be the very model of a happily married couple.
But all is not what it seems: Loli is growing bored of her uneventful housewife existence,
whilst Laurent is secretly having affairs with every other woman in the neighbourhood.
When Marijo, a butch lesbian disk jockey, enters their lives, it is like a spark falling
on try tinder. Loli is easily seduced by Marijo and when Laurent finds his wife
is embarking on a lesbian love affair he loses control. Although Marijo and Laurent
hate each other, they agree to live together so they can share the woman they love...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.