Film Review
Two years before he created a sensation at the 1995 Cannes film festival with
La Haine, a controversial film about racial
tension in the housing estates of Paris, Mathieu Kassovitz made this comparatively slight
film which tackled the race issue from a totally different angle.
Métisse
, Kassovitz's first full length film, uses comedy to draw our attention to
the injustices and prejudices that mar our so-called civilised society. The director's
approach is strikingly fresh and original, and most notably quite unlike anything in French
cinema at the time.
The film's low budget and “rough and ready” feel give it a raw
realism and zany style which the more sophisticated
La
Haine lacks, although it is quite apparent that Kassovitz has yet to come to grips
with the art of filmmaking. Although the script is well-written, with some great
comic dialogue in places, the familiar racial and social stereotypes keep cropping up,
and the film's narrative is painfully uneven. What the film lacks in maturity
and coherence it more than makes up for with its sense of fun, its biting irony and its
humanity. The acting is also impeccable, and Kassovitz shows that he is just as
promising as an actor as he is as a director. Vincent Cassel appears in the film,
in one of his first screen appearances, before starring in Kassovitz's
La
Haine and becoming one of the most sought-after actors in French cinema.
Kassovitz's father, Pierre, is also in the film, in a brief cameo role, playing
a university professor.
Métisse
was noted at the Césars in 1994, with two nominations (one for the film,
in the best first film category, and the other for Kassovitz, in the most promising young
actor category). Kassovitz had previously been recognised for his short films (
Fierrot le pou,
Cauchemar
blanc and
Assassins). He would go
on to win acclaim for his performance in Jacques Audiard's
Regarde les homes tomber (1994) and, more
significantly, his direction of
La
Haine (1995), his greatest achievement to date.
© James Travers 2005
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Mathieu Kassovitz film:
La Haine (1995)
Film Synopsis
Jamal and Félix are two young men who could not be more different
but they have one thing in common - both are devotedly attached to the same
woman, Lola, an 18-year-old half-caste. The son of an African diplomat,
Jamal is struggling to complete his law studies in Paris. Félix
is a bike courier who divides his spare time between clubbing and drugs dealing.
Lola cannot decide which of the two chalk-and-cheese lovers she likes most,
so she is happy to go on seeing them both.
Unfortunately, this is not an arrangement that suits Jamal or Félix.
They each want Lola for himself and are willing to resort to violence to
bring this about. Things become a tad more complicated when Lola discovers
that she is pregnant and admits she cannot be sure which of her two lovers
is the father. As a result, Jamal and Félix are forced to bury
their differences and content themselves with an awkward three-way relationship.
This proves to be something of challenge as the two men are naturally predisposed
to hate one another, given their personal backgrounds. Lola is wise
enough to know that she will get her way in the end, and when her baby is
born it might well turn out that two fathers are better than one...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.