Parlez-moi de la pluie (2008)
Directed by Agnès Jaoui

Film Review

Husband-and-wife team Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri deliver another delightful bitter-sweet slice of life in this, their third, collaboration as director and screenwriter.  As in their previous two films - Le Goût des autres (2000) and Comme une image (2004) - the story revolves around a clash of cultures through which the protagonists, who are initially all too sure of themselves, grow to realise their failings and emerge as better people.  The film takes its title from the opening line of the well-known George Brassens song L'Orage: "Parlez-moi de la pluie et non pas du beau temps."

As in other Jaoui-Bacri offerings, the charm of this film lies in the subtle interplay of the characters and the way in which this allows us to see beyond the surface impressions and glimpse the true person beneath the charade.  Outwardly, the three main protagonists (played to perfection by Bacri, Jaoui and iconic comedian-turned actor Jamel Debbouze) appear to be familiar caricatures - the has been reporter, the feminist career woman and the dreamer who has no hope of realising his ambitions.  It is only when they come together that these three characters cease to resemble walking clichés and become convincing, complex human beings.  This approach, of characters revealing their true identity through their interaction with others, is an essential feature of Jaoui's films and works particularly well in this one, which is concerned with the fallacy of judging by surface impressions.

Parlez-moi de la pluie is arguably the most engaging and sophisticated film to come from the Jaoui-Bacri partnership to date.  There may be less overt comedy than in Le Goût des autres, but it is just as probing and nuanced in its portrayal of human nature and the poignancy has a slightly keener edge to it.  The characters are well-drawn and played with panache and sincerity by some fine actors.  You hardly recognise Jamel Debbouze as the anarchic comedian of yesteryear; here he is completely transformed and gives a tender and humane performance that is more likely to make you cry than laugh.   The rural setting and David Quesemand's sensual cinematography bring a gentle poetic quality to the film that enriches it and evokes the subtle melancholy of a long rainy day in summer.

Film Synopsis

It is with great reluctance that Agathe Villanova returns to her home town in the south of France.  She had hoped she had seen the last of the region when she left it some years ago, to pursue a successful career as a feminist writer and activist.  But now she has turned to politics she finds herself standing as a candidate in an election in the very town she grew up in.  She takes advantage of this undesirable turn of events to catch up on her sister Florence, who is busy sorting out her mother's affairs a year after she died.  It is not the happiest of homecomings.

Unlike her high-flying sister, Florence has no desire to leave the region where she was born.  She still lives in the old family homestead, along with her husband, their children and an Algerian housekeeper named Mimouna.  It so happens that the latter's son, Karim, is in the process of making a film documentary about a number of successful women with his friend Michel Ronsard.  Karim, for one, is delighted by Agathe's unexpected return to the area.  She will make a perfect subject for his film.  Glad of the distraction, Agathe agrees to lend her support.  It's one way to help pass a rainy and pretty miserable August...