El padrastro

Patrick Dewaere was a wonderful comic actor (see him in Les Valseuses), while Ariel Besse was rather, er, young. Realistically young. I'd have liked this film even better if I hadn't had to endure the horrible dubbing into English (especially for Ariel Besse's character).

Cast is phenomenal. Excellent acting all around. Beautiful direction. I was sad to see that the young actress didn't do too many more films after this one -- because she is phenomenal in this. Great movie ... but not for politically correct American audiences. A film with this kind of delicate poetry can only be made in France.

I was 14 years old and traveling to Florida and we spent the night in a hotel. I was up late watching HBO when this movie came on. As I sat and watched it I was mesmerized by Patrick Deweare! The movie and his performance touched something very deep in me, I became an instant fan of his and the memory of that movie stayed with me for years. I purchased the movie as an adult. I think it was the deep sadness that emanated from him, just the sad looks he would convey without actually speaking. I love this movie as much today as I did at 14, which at that time I did not know that he had just died. With the advent of the Internet I was able to find out much more about this man who's performance haunted me and learned where that sadness came from.

Blier is not my favorite French director. Too much irony and too much Godard-a-like in his films. But this one is very different. It's written with great intelligence and, like in most of the French Cinema, it had a wonderful sense of reality. The subject is touchy : a man falls in love with a young teenager (14 years old). But here, we have not the classic Lolita. The young girl looks realistic, and so is her feelings. Superb acting and a great musical score.

"Beau-Père" is not a skin flick, though the cover of the DVD and VHS would make you think otherwise. Yes, it's about a very taboo topic, to say the least - the sexual relationship between a 40-ish piano player and his 14-year-old stepdaughter - but the great Bertrand Blier, who explored similar territory in "Get Out Your Handkerchiefs" eases the unease by doing the unthinkable and turning the movie into a screwball comedy.

Well, that's what we think, at first. Remi (played magnificently by Blier favorite Patrick Dewaere), not unlike Humbert in Nabokov's "Lolita" tells us of his tragic plight; after his wife dies tragically, he is left with his stepdaughter, Marion (Ariel Besse). Uncomfortable with the new rift in the household, Marion childishly assumes the "mother" role and takes on all motherly duties - including seducing her stepfather. Remi refuses, but there is danger lurking in Marion's pubescent body and puppy-dog eyes. Not realizing this danger, he eventually gives in.

Of course, giving into his stepdaughter is a mistake that plunges both Remi and Marion deeper and deeper into misery. Even Marion's real father suspects a mutual sexuality between them and, in one of the film's more heartbreaking moments, completely dissolves his obligation as a father and OKs the incestuous affair. Remi and Marion, then, are not so much connected by their sexual bond, but by the fact that they've both been abandoned by the people they love. There's no real question about where the affair is going, but the tragedy lies in who gets hurt the most. The final image of the movie may haunt me forever.

The movie is obviously not for all tastes, but it should be said that the sex is never gratuitous. In fact, it seems almost distracting when compared to what Blier really wants to get across - the divide between adolescence and adulthood and how seemingly frivolous sexual encounters can ruin lives forever. And, like "Hankerchiefs", the movie somehow provides some truly funny moments. "Beau-Père" is Bertrand Blier's masterpiece and a film that should be seen by all connaisseurs of intelligent, challenging cinema. 10/10