Film Review
The prevailing mania in French cinema for all things kitsch and retro
shows no sign of abating, judging by the positive reaction to
Régis Roinsard's debut feature
Populaire.
A deliriously full-on homage to the American rom-com of the 1950s, with
Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn visibly reincarnated as a brilliantined
Romain Duris and a heavenly Déborah François, the film
can best be summarised as a high-speed collision between
Rocky and
My Fair Lady. On paper, the
plot would appear to be a total non-starter: the delicate Hepburn-like
heroine wants to be her own woman and so she allows herself to be
hauled through a gruelling training regime (by an implausibly smooth
Romain Duris) to become an Olympic-standard touch-typist. It's
hard to imagine how Roinsard was able to find a producer to back the
project given its flimsy premise, but someone evidently saw something
in it and was willing to stump up the 15 million euros needed to make
the film. It may seem unlikely, but
Populaire has everything it needs
to live up to its name - a stellar cast, unrivalled production
standards, stylish mise-en-scène and an unflagging sense of
fun. And it's all about typing.
The one area where the film cannot easily be faulted is its stunning
art design, which provides a meticulous reconstruction of the period in
which it is set (the late 1950s). Cinematographer Guillaume
Schiffman (who previously achieved great things on Michel Hazanavicius's
The
Artist) was evidently influenced by the American
films of the period, most notably Hitchcock's
Vertigo,
and achieves a similarly colour-rich glossy look, which nowadays comes
across as kitsch and artificial. The sets and costumes are just
as evocative of the era and add to the film's pleasing fairytale-like
artificiality, vaguely reminiscent of the films that Jacques Demy made
in the 1960s. There are scant references to the decade's darker
side (such as the costly wars in Indochina and Algeria) and the
characters are obvious stereotypes who behave much as we would expect
them to.
Populaire may
look authentic but the one thing it
definitely does not do is to present is an accurate piece of social
history. Rather, it shows us the past as we would prefer to
remember it, warm and cosy, a happy retreat from our present turmoil of
muddle and misery.
It is regrettable that Roinsard and his screenwriting team were unable
(or unwilling) to burrow a little deeper and offer a more insightful
commentary on the slow process of female emancipation, which is
essentially what the film is (or ought to be) about. Now that it
has been confined to history thanks to the ubiquitous personal computer
and other technological gizmos, it is easy to forget that the
typewriter was a crucial weapon in the cause of women's lib, allowing
women to achieve some measure of independence from (and parity with)
men in the latter half of the 20th century. In terms of its
lasting social impact, the typewriter had far greater impact
than the atom bomb and contraceptive pill. The film is right when it makes the
apparently fatuous observation that every woman's dream in the 1950s
was to become a secretary, but what it then fails to do is to follow
through and connect with the far-reaching social changes that would
ensue as a result of women migrating from the kitchen sink to the
typing pool (a crucial stepping stone to the boardroom). The
heroine Rose thinks she is gaining her freedom by becoming the world's
fastest typist, but it is apparent that she is deluding herself.
As generations of women before her, she is still very much in the power
of the dominant male, and one wonders if the film is being bitterly
ironic or just hopelessly lazy.
Populaire may not be profound
or particularly imaginative, but it is nonetheless an enjoyably daft
escapist diversion. (What other film offers so much hot
adrenalin-pumping keyboard action?) What the script lacks in
depth and subtlety it makes up for (almost) with its almost surreal set-pieces
and humorous dialogue that crackles on
the lips of an amiable cast. Fans of
The Artist will doubtless relish
Bérénice Bejo's presence in a substantial supporting
role, and it's a treat to see stars of yesteryear Miou-Miou and Eddy
Mitchell in fine comedic form. The film's main selling point is
the marvellous chemistry between the two leads, Romain Duris and
Déborah François, without which this would have been the
palest imitation of an old school American rom-com. Of
course, the
real star of the
film is none of the above, but a now obsolete lump of metal that was
once the enabler and servant of so much intellectual, artistic and
commercial activity - the modest typewriter. If like me you
passed your formative years pounding away in creative masochism,
blistering your fingers on those cold, stubborn blocks of metal,
Populaire will bring back a flood
of memories - and an intense longing for the good old days of carbon
paper, correction fluid and constantly tangled keys. Happy days...
© James Travers 2013
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
For a young woman growing up in France in the mid-to-late 1950s, opportunities
for leading your own life, free of parental restraint, are few and far between.
Rose Pamphyle is 21, the ideal age to get herself a husband and start rearing
a family. At least, this is what her father, a sullen widower in a small
Normandy village, intends for her. He has made up his mind that his
daughter will marry the son of a prosperous garage owner and do what society
expects of her - to stay at home and have babies. Rose has other ideas,
however. A life of dreary domesticity and never-ending maternity has
limited appeal to her, so she instead opts to gain her independence by finding
herself a well-paid job. To this end, she goes off in secret to the
nearby town of Lisieux to attend an interview for the post of secretary.
Rose's prospective employer is Louis Echard, a good-looking and charming
young man in his mid-thirties who runs a small insurance company. It
is not the most successful of interviews, but Louis cannot but be impressed
by the speed of Rose's touch-typing. Her fingers zip across the keyboard
as if they are under some kind of demonic influence - it is a dazzling sight
to behold! Realising he has found someone of rare ability, Louis offers
Rose the job, but on condition that she agrees to enter a speed typing competition.
Under his patient tutelage, Louis is confident that he can make a champion
typist of her. But as they embark on this singular adventure together,
Rose and her new employer cannot help falling for one another...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.