Film Review
A very topical film, Rohmer's satire of some of the absurdities of French regional politics
is very witty and surprisingly fresh. The notion that a mayor can find it easier
to obtain funding for a grotesque white elephant than for restoring the existing stone
buildings has more than a ring of truth about it.
Arielle Dombasle's portrayal of the mayor's partner is the film's winning card.
A confirmed city-phile who has never seen lettuces outside of a plastic wrapper in the
supermarket, it is left to her to persuade the architect that it might be a good idea
to try to blend the proposed concrete monstrosity into its surroundings. Equally
entertaining is the mixed, and largely unpredictable, responses of the local people to
the venture. Ultimately, only a young girl has the guts to tell the mayor what a
damn fool idea he is pursuing - although of course, being just a little girl and not even
eligible to vote, her words fall on deaf ears.
Can politician's really be so stupid and blinkered? Rohmer's analysis is scathing
and his conclusion an unequivocal
oui. Build a massive media complex
in a community of a few dozen families? The fact that the mere idea doesn't immediately
strike the film's audience as being absurd suggest all to well that we have already become
inured to the idiotic schemes of regional politicians.
With some Godard-esque direction and unpolished acting performances (looking as if the
entire film was improvised), the film has a very effective documentary feel about it.
This techinque serves the film well, allowing Rohmer to make his political comments rather
like a very capable ventiloquist: the dialogue appears to come straight from the
heads of the actors and not from the pages of some well-rehearsed script.
Whilst it suffers a little from a lack of structure, the film is nevertheless an entertaining
satire of contemporary French poltics. It is also a treat to see Fabrice Luchini
(now a very popular actor in France) erupting in a number of spirited outbursts of fury
and eloquence that
no one could possibly have scripted.
© James Travers 2000
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Next Eric Rohmer film:
Les Rendez-vous de Paris (1995)
Film Synopsis
The mayor of a provincial French town manages to get funding to build a media centre,
in a picturesque location amidst green fields and old stone houses. Needless-to-say
the scheme meets with some fierce opposition from the locals, particularly a primary school
teacher and his politically astute pre-teenage daughter.
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.