Salaud, on t'aime (2014)
Directed by Claude Lelouch

Film Review

Never one to depart from a tried and tested formula if he can help it, director Claude Lelouch serves up another syrupy melodrama constructed around his favourite themes of love, death and friendship.  Salaud, on t'aime is classic Lelouch, safe and predictable, a banal storyline garnished with platitudinous dialogue and well-worn archetypes, anodyne fare that the director could knock out in his sleep if he so chose (not that anyone would ever know the difference).  As ever, the free-spirited filmmaker whom the critics love to hate manages to assemble an impeccable cast to help deflect attention from his shortcomings on both the writing and directing fronts.  This time Lelouch surpasses himself by bringing together two of France's biggest rock legends - Johnny Hallyday and Eddy Mitchell - and two actresses that no critic can fault - Sandrine Bonnaire and Irène Jacob.  As far as human shields go, this one is pretty impressive.

Alas, not even this accumulation of acting talent can save a film if its director is Hell-bent on destroying its credibility almost from the word go.  If there is one criticism that can legitimately be levelled against Claude Lelouch it is a tendency to over-compensate for his shortcomings as a student of human nature by overdoing everything else (often to ludicrous proportions).  Not content with developing a thoughtful study in family reconciliation (which is obviously a thinly disguised self-portrait), Lelouch has to throw in an unconvincing and totally unnecessary crime subplot which completely derails the last third of the film.  Intimate scenes in which the principals perform a special alchemy on Lelouch's cheesy dialogue and somehow render it poignant and meaningful are spoiled by hideously sentimental background music.  Throw in some over-exuberant camerawork which is simply too grand for the narrative to support and it's no surprise that the whole thing looks like an over-ambitious film school project that has got carried away with itself.  Shards of creative brilliance punctuate this film, but under Lelouch's undisciplined stewardship the end result is far less than the sum of its parts.

With a less distinguished cast this latest Lelouch escapade would be easily dismissed as yet another Grade A fiasco (of the 44 films Lelouch has made so far only about a dozen have stood the test of time and offer something resembling a satisfying viewing experience).   It there is one thing that redeems the film it is the sheer pleasure (reserved, admittedly, for spectators of a certain generation) of seeing Johnny Hallyday and Eddy Mitchell on screen together, sparring off one another in a way that leaves no doubt they have a long shared history together.  The scenes with Hallyday and Bonnaire are just as moving, both actors managing to fill the aching voids in their vacuous dialogue with subtle visual cues that convey so much more about their characters' needs and anxieties.  It's a valiant salvage operation that these great actors perform but in the end their efforts are overwhelmed by the scale of their undertaking.  After a reasonably engaging first half, Salaud, on t'aime just falls to pieces in its final act and leaves you wishing that Lelouch would just call it a day, or at least hire a decent scriptwriter.

Film Synopsis

Throughout his busy career, Jacques Kaminsky has been so committed to his profession as a war photographer that he has neglected his parental responsibilities.  He hardly knows the four daughters he has fathered through four different relationships, girls that have been named after the four seasons of the year.  Now in retirement he hopes to live a peaceful life in the Alps with his latest amorous conquest, the attractive estate agent who sold him his chalet.  His well-meaning best friend Frédéric Selman is keen that Jacques should patch things up with his daughters and so arranges for them to visit him at his new mountain retreat.  To do so, he must resort to a small subterfuge...