Film Review
Although it feels slightly dated now, Coline Serreau's second full-length film
(her first fictional work after her documentary
Mais qu'est-ce qu'elles veulent?)
is an entertaining, tongue-in-cheek piece which was actually rather
daring for its time (bisexuality was pretty taboo in cinema even in France of the 1970s),
although it found favour with the critics.
There are shades of Buñel in the way bourgeois attitudes are
portrayed and made fun of, but the film is, for the
most part, a pretty conventional French comedy-drama of the period,
revolving around that perennial favourite, the ménage-à-trois.
Whilst
Pourquoi pas! doesn't quite hold together as well as some of Serreau's later films - such as the
classic comedy
Trois
hommes et un couffin (1985), romantic drama
Romuald et Juliette (1989)
and off-kilter road movie
Saint-Jacques... La Mecque (2005) -
it is an engaging piece with some hilarious moments pepping up
the true-to-life narrative. Doing justice to Serreau's authentic screenplay
are some well-judged performances from the three leads. Sami Frey is as mesmerising as ever
and works well alongside his co-stars Mario Gonzales and Christine Murillo,
in a situation that is vaguely reminiscent of Claude Sautet's
César et Rosalie (1972).
Impressive as the leads are, Michel Aumont comes close to stealing the film with his touching comic
portrayal of a police inspector going through a midlife crisis.
© James Travers 2005
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Coline Serreau film:
Qu'est-ce qu'on attend pour être heureux! (1982)
Film Synopsis
A typically French ménage à trois arrangement seems to suit
Fernand, Louis and Alexa, three disparate individuals in their late twenties
who are each, in one way or another, a fugitive from life. They live
together, enjoying a peaceful existence in a somewhat dilapidated old house.
Fernand takes care of the maintenance of the house - this keeps his mind
off his painful separation from his wife and children. Alexa has likewise
left her partner, a young businessman, because she was bored with her old
life. Louis, a bisexual musician, left home when he fell out with his
parents. He earns a pittance performing in jazz nightclubs.
Although happy with their new lives, Fernand and his housemates have difficulty
earning enough money to pay their rent. Their landlady, an old woman,
is sympathetic, and she allows them to stay on in return for chasing away
estate agents who keep pestering her to sell the house. A police inspector
becomes intrigued by the curious threesome - their way of life strangely
appeals to him and he soon becomes their friend. Fernand then meets
and falls in love with a young and somewhat mixed-up middleclass woman, Sylvie.
The latter is unsure whether she should join Fernand and his friends.
It is possible that four people can live together? Perhaps she should
give it a go. Why not...?
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.