Robert Guédiguian has become the committed director of our times. Like his English peer ,Kenneth Loach,Robert Guédiguian depicts the other side of the mirror ; on the feel-good French scene ,his works are,more than ever ,pivotal ; because they are not exactly what they call 'feel-good" even though there are moments in his work which give the viewer more joy than the trendy hip flicks.his masterworks " La Ville Est Tranquille" " Les Neiges Du kilimandjaro" or the neglected "Une Histoire De Fous " are endearing tales that win you over :generous, brash, full of compassion .The wonderful Arianne Ascaride , Guédiguian's partner in life ,and the principal in most of his films had these lines in "et la fête continue" :"we should have two lives :one to take care of ourselves ,and one to take care of our fellow men ".
That's exactly what she does in "la pie voleuse" ; she is so devoted to her work that we forgive her her little thefts ; she has only one guilty pleasure: savoring oysters with lemon :and wait for Darroussin's last line! It goes straight to the heart .
That Guediguian can make numerous people live on the screen and use interwoven plots is one of his recurrent features , probably inspired by the great directors of yore ,particularly Julien Duvivier ,whose "la fete à Henriette' he almost remade as "à l'attaque ".
Although labeled "comedy", "la pie voleuse" is actually a sardonic one, often verging on drama ; his characters ,particularly the old ones ,find it hard to get by : wheelchair, fear in the night when alone ( the heroine goes as far as to go and keep company to an old lady,frightened by the thunderclaps), difficulties to make both ends meet ;even though the "love-at-first -sight " affair is the only weakness of the screenplay,it allows the director to show the young generation's selfishness, beautiful people whose consuming passion endangers their fellow men's fate .
I cannot think of another living actress whose face expresses compassion or true happiness as Miss Ascaride does. She 's a likeable sort, and her emotional relationship with the audience is extraordinary ,recalling Annie Girardot.
As for Darroussin ,he matches her every step of the way ; Guédiguian 's "Kilimandjaro" (2011) was based on Victor Hugo's poem "les pauvres gens" ; in "la pie voleuse " he has Darroussin recite the end of it ;if it does not make you cry,nothing will!
The score includes a lot of classical music,with the de rigueur Rossini 's "la gazza ladra" .And ,as usual , the director shows his love for his Marseille town.
