Tout ce qui brille

presented at the French film Festival in Wellington, this film portrays a slice of contemporary society in France. 50 years after the independence of North African countries, children and grand children of immigrants have integrated into a wider context.

There is no story line as such, rather a sequence of mini events in the life of two friends, with two socially opposite Parisian suburbs as a backdrop: the affluent Neuilly and its modest counterpart Puteaux. This polarity enables some misunderstandings about who lives where adding an amusing touch to the mural.

Brilliant acting from both Leila Bekhti and Geraldine Nakache (also the director) Virginie Ledoyen is impeccable albeit in a supporting role.

The movie starts quite slow. In fact, it is slow. But at least it does not waste time on pointless dialogues, quite frequent in the popular European productions, like a woman coming and telling the character "I am your mother, so..." Unusual for French popular movies, the characters are kept to a minimum.

Yet there is an ambiguity which probably stems from the double authorship. It starts as the story of two girls. It moves to the story of one girl. So it is about the one girl and her relationships. Yet the second girl has the whole family featured. It ends up being the story of the second girl. Who happens to be the writer/director.

The film can be considered a snapshot of Francilian life. Yet the title and the general attitude point in the direction of a cheap moralistic view. In the end I was so happy there are no traces of the regular American excess common in moralist movies. No mother dies to hear the violins play and watch a tear in the corner of the main character's eye. But probably that is what misses: there is no high and low. Which turns the whole experience quite dull.

The story aside, the camera is quite good, it reminded me a little of Bigas Luna's style. It is most probably just a coincidence.

Contact me with Questions, Comments or Suggestions ryitfork @ bitmail.ch

I was going to the cinema with my suitor on Sunday to watch"All which shines"("Tout ce qui brille"). We could see the events of two best friends'girls who live in a French estate and who want to inlay them in rich trendy parties in Paris. The movie contains a happy end... I loved this light, modern, realist and comic movie because I could identify me to the protagonists played perfectly and so naturally by comic actresses. But, I think this movie is made for women. So even if my boyfriend laughed for a few of jokes, he was bored during almost all the movie. We did agree about the good choice of the movie's B.O, a Veronic Sanson's funny song.

The film tells the story of two girls from poor Moroccan families in Paris and their friendship. There are no interesting twists or turns in the movie, which jumps from one uninteresting "real-life situation" to the other, without making deep observations or being somewhat entertaining. We see those girls interact with their families, friends, colleagues, lovers, we see them partying and working, talking to each other, but the dialogs are rather boring. One thing that I found amusing is that the characters use a lot of "verlan" and they dress fashionably cute. The bottom line is that the film is dull, the characters are under-developed and the dialogs are rather plain.

I really believe that french movie makers have a flair for comedies. I can honestly think of more movies that made me laugh from frogsland that any other country in the world. This one tells the tale of two girls who live in the suburbs and dream of mixing it up with the elite. They manage somehow to introduce themselves in that circle while hiding their real identity. As a result they have to come up with many spontaneous responses to not get unmasked. Some of the situations are hilarious. So if you are bored at home, and don't know what to watch after a hard day a work, this french girly movie will be perfect for you! Otherwise try Les Bronzes, Les Bronzes font du ski, Les Kairas, and many many others...