Potiche

This film was primarily a glorification vehicle for former world beauty and French film icon Deneuve that got way too precious and obvious in its abject adoration by the end. This comedy about a tough factory owner who was kidnapped by his workers which allowed his more caring wife to take over his job was a bit better than TV quality fare and not much more than a mostly pleasant way to spend a couple of hours seeing how much a once great beauty has aged since her spot at the top of French cinema in the 60s and 70s. Deneuve's acting skill has not declined as much as her looks have but it has not improved much since then either, as her even, vapid personality made her role mostly uninteresting to me in this film just as most did back in the day. Other than her deserved status as a very attractive woman, there never was much there there. However, film always has been the showcase for the most beautiful women, as they do sell tickets no matter what kind of "acting" they do, as it's their "being" that counts more to an audience, especially to men. To their credit, the French are very appreciative and adamant about their icon worship, done very well recently in "The Illusionist" starring a graphic character of the incomparable Jacques Tati, but they went too far with little quality in Potiche.

Vehicle movies are pure vanity pieces and often dismissed as fluff homage, and usually do not recover the cost of making them as they mostly do poorly at the box office due to their too-obvious glorifying agenda where story is very secondary to the primary purpose of overt and excessive icon adoration. This film may do fine in France, but I fully expect very poor box office to be the case in America.

The film is a washout.I can't for the life of me imagine why anyone would give this a good review, unless (as it would appear) they a) expected something terrible or b) it was a welcome relief from watching a spate of other movies at a festival. It is a fine tribute to Catherine Deneuve, stop. Well, maybe also a pleasant appearance and tribute to that vastly overweight, but also vastly likable and talented Depardieu. The acting otherwise was atrocious, the characters caricatures. The plot in itself was credible enough and could have been followed quite successfully to some conclusion, but then takes some uncalled for and inexplicable turns which don't do anything to resuscitate a hammy production. Avoid it unless your only other option is a colonscopy.

Of course I was a bit on the defensive having tickets for a film starring several famous actors with a long history in major roles, like Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu. Though fearing a sort of reliving-past-glories event, embarrassing for actors and viewers alike, it was a relief that I was proved wrong in my expectations. My final conclusion is that the film is entertaining throughout, after starting a bit weak. As a result it will entertain a large population of viewers.

The only minus points I have lie in the first 15 minutes. Especially the opening scene did not bode well for the rest. We see Catherine jogging and interacting with animals. Subsequently, in the same 15 minutes, my worst feelings seemed further confirmed because of a few scenes with family members. It showed a lot of overly emphasized role playing, each doing his very best to highlight the bad elements of their respective characters.

Past that opening exposition of main characters, the story took off and kept us all awake for the remainder of the time. What happens with the members of the family and the people around them, is very diverse and full of surprises. None of it can possibly be predicted.

An array of developments and complications unfold. All of these build on the good and bad psychological properties shown earlier, together making up the main character roles. In spite of what I said before, we see that aforementioned opening scenes are paying back, after all. The overacting that I observed in the opening scenes, may be only my imagination, being the result of my initial (wrong) attitude.

I first saw the French actress Catherine Deneuve in a movie in the English-language "Repulsion" in 1965 when she as just 22. Playing the 'trophy wife' of the title in this 2010 French film, Deneuve is 67 but still glamorous. When Suzanne Pujol's husband (Fabrice Luchini) - a sexist partner and a harsh boss - has to absent himself from his 300-employee umbrella factory for health reasons, she takes over and transforms both the industrial relations and the business performance of the plant with a sensitive feminine touch that makes full use of her connections including the local mayor (Gérard Depardieu).

Set in 1977 and a comedy, this is an old-fashioned and very light work that lacks any subtlety or nuance with writer and director François Ozon simply satiring both the factory owner and his trade unions (CFDT and UGT).

Baccara & the Beegees in the soundtrack! Deneuve and Dépardieu doing the Night Fever dance! Squirrels! Hot truck drivers with sideburns! son Laurent who looks like Claude François, daughter Joelle with a Farrah Fawcett hairdo: this film gets a ten+ for the art direction and a 9 for the colourful cinematography.

As for Deneuve, in a role reminiscent of 8 Femmes' Gaby (2002 - she made 17 movies since!) is bubbly, sparkling and the stuff movie stars are made off - she sucks the viewer into the story.

Dépardieu, well is Dépardieu; Deneuve's husband played by Fabrice Luchini is the weak link in the story. He never comes off as a credible character. The kids' acting is alright, though they sometimes blend in with the wallpaper too much. It's just a bit too much visual and too little feeling.

Potiche is a Japanese flower pot and a merry housewife and Suzanne Pujol at first appears both. As the drama unfolds, there is more in Suzanne than we first thought. The story is like a soufflé, pleasant, fluffy and at risk to implode at times.

What perhaps should be a study about women's emancipation in the Seventies has more of a feel of a prequel to 'Dynasty a la Française', and a whiff of British comedy 'Are you being served?' thus making the viewer feel a bit iffy at times.

We saw this as the 5th movie at a film screening in the Netherlands, right after Des Hommes et dieux (of gods and men - the French Oscar submission); in that context the exuberant pastiche that made potiche was a welcome delicious dessert of our day of digesting the finest films. Go and see it!