La Vie moderne (2000)
Directed by Laurence Ferreira Barbosa

Film Review

With her third film, a skilfully crafted mosaic on modern life, Laurence Ferreira Barbosa confirms her standing as one of France's most promising new film directors.   La Vie moderne comprises three interweaving storylines, involving three very different people who are looking for something to give their lives meaning.

As in all of Barbosa's films to date, an acute sense of realism is offset by a slightly surreal comic edge.  The three principal characters are by no means as mentally deranged as the heroine in the director's first film (Les Gens normaux n'ont rien d'exceptionnel), but there is a worryingly eccentric side to each of them, and this adds to their vulnerability and charm.

Marguerite (convincingly portrayed by Isabelle Huppert's real life daughter Lolita Chammah) is the least sympathetic character yet we are drawn to feel something for this obnoxious teenager as she offends in public and agonises in private.  The older woman Claire is only marginally more likeable: she has everything except a child but appears to be set on risking everything to obtain the one thing she lacks.  In another great piece of acting work, Isabelle Huppert makes her character both inordinately complex and strangely accessible.  Finally, there is Jacques, a man who seems to have lost everything (except - alas - his subscription to cable TV) but then discovers a reason for living.  His may be the most far-fetched of the three storylines (a bizarre departure into thriller à la American pulp fiction), but it is told with such flair and humanity that we can easily forgive this indulgence.

These three characters are brought together only for a brief moment at the end of the film, in an extraordinary sequence filmed in the crowded Paris metro.  The lives of the film's three protagonists suddenly resemble three tiny tributaries being swallowed up by a huge ocean.  We are struck - simultaneously - by the sheer insignificance and overwhelming importance of each individual existence.  We are also made aware of the terrifyingly solitary nature of our lives - not surprisingly as this is a film which is concerned (at least in part) with people who are unable to make contact with others.

For its rich characterisation and artistic élan (both the photography and the editing are of the highest calibre), La Vie moderne provides a thoughtful and welcome meditation on life at the end of the Twentieth Century.   The influence of France's great New Wave directors (Truffaut, Godard and Rohmer) is clearly visible, something which adds to the film's artistic appeal and accessibility.  At the same time, it is evident that Laurence Ferreira Barbosa has by now established her own style, one which is of great charm and originality.

The film was marked by the presence of renowned American film director Robert Kramer, who plays a small part in the film.  Kramer died shortly after the filming was completed, adding a subtle note of poignancy to his modest yet memorable contribution to this fine film.

Film Synopsis

Marguerite is a solitary 17-year old, overly judgemental of others and incapable of having a normal relationship with anyone.  Unable to confide in either her family or her schoolmates, she spends most of her time alone, talking to God.   Meanwhile, an older woman, Claire has become frustrated at not being able to have a child.   Suspecting that her partner is sterile, she goes to Paris to consult a fertility expert.  She ends up having a series of liaisons with desirable men who are more than willing to give her a child.   In another part of Paris, a man in his late thirties, Jacques, is trying to restore his self-esteem after losing his wife, his child and his job.  He becomes entangled with a mysterious young woman Eva, who engages him as a private detective to trace her missing sister.  Three people, three lives… can any of them find what they are looking for?