Riviera francesa

"In The Name of My Daughter" (2014 release from France, original title "L'homme qu'on aimait trop" or "The man people loved too much"; 116 min.) brings the story of Agnes Le Roux, a twenty-something young woman. As the movie opens, we are in the mid/late 70s and we see Agnes arriving at the Nice airport and being picked up by Maurice, a guy who works for/with Agnes' mother, Renee. Renee runs one of the many casinos that are at the French Riviera, but the casino is not doing well. Meanwhile we see Agnes and Maurice hitting it off, even though Maurice is married and has a young son, and admittedly also has other mistresses. On top of that, Maurice has a falling out with Renee. To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: first, I knew next to nothing about the movie's plot or story line when I went to see it, and as a result, the movie for me became a guessing game as to which direction this movie would take or what this movie was about in the first place: is it about the strained mother-daughter relationship? or about the possible takeover of the casino by the Mafioso? or about the potential romance between Maurice and Agnes? The Big Reveal comes only 20 minutes before the end, and the of course it all makes sense. But by then my patience had been severely tested, I must admit. Second, as the movie opens, it reminds us that "this is a work of fiction based on real-life facts". What that means to me is that the very general theme or story line of the movie is real, but plenty of 'artistic licenses' have been made as to the details of the movie. Third, if you wonder on what basis I'd go see a movie I know next to nothing about, my answer is: it stars Catherine Deneuve (as Renee). That in and of itself is good enough for me to check out a movie. As it happens, there are other worthwhile performances in this movie, most notably Guillaume Canet as Maurice, but Adele Haenel as Agnes does quite well too. Bottom line: this movie is quite good, although it takes too long to give us the Big Reveal which explains why we have been watching the previous 90+ min.

This movie showed up without any hype or advertising at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati this weekend and I went to see it right away. The Sunday matinée screening where I saw this at was surprisingly well attended. I bet you that it is Catherine Deneuve's name that attracts most people to this movie (it certainly did for me). If you are in the mood for a decent French movie that brings quality acting performances, you might want to check out "In the Name of My Daughter", be it in the theater, or eventually on VOD or DVD/Blu-ray.

I was an extra in this film, a one day shoot on the beach near CAnnes and I show up for one or two seconds in a scene about 1 hour and 20 minutes into the film on the beach with the two young lead walking by and me in my swim trunks standing by the edge of the sea. OK Not much but fun to see. I enjoyed the film mostly because it was shot here in the South of France where I live and they went to great pains to make it look authentic from the 1970s when most of it takes place and its beautifully photographed. Good performances from the three leads and a true story that is still unsolved. Did this man kill this girl or not? We still do not know for sure. Miss Deneuve ages to the end of the film and I do not recall ever seeing her let herself go like that in films. I spoke briefly to Guillaume Canet on the set that day and he was very nice and approachable. A memorable experience and in the end a good film too

(2014) In The Name of My Daughter/ L'homme qu'on aimait trop (In French with English subtitles) BIO DRAMA/ MYSTERY

Adapted from the book "Une femme face à la Mafia" by Jean-Charles Le Roux(2014) and Renée Le Roux, co- written and directed by André Téchiné that has daughter, Agnès Le Roux (Adèle Haenel) of a casino owner, Renée Le Roux (Catherine Deneuve) arriving at the airport with lawyer, Maurice Agnelet (Guillaume Canet) waiting to pick her up from her trip from Africa. And before Agnès goes to see her mother, she then asks Maurice she wants to go for a swim, and that is exactly what happened. By the time she arrives, Maurice informs Renée that if she wants to see her that she may need to see her daughter in the car as she does not want to come inside. When the mom does go out to see Agnès, she was already dozed up waiting for her, but is woken up as soon as she arrives. On the following day, Agnès informs her mom she not only wants to open up her own store, but she also wants her mom to sell the casino as well as collect what is owed from her dad's inheritance. Except that when Agnès asked her, it was bad timing as Renée had to shell out five million to a customer. And as it turned out by her lawyer, Maurice it was by four people who have a questionable track records. This also puts Renée to make the decision to kick her current chief executive out and to make her advocate her to take his place. Maurice wants to be managing director, except that Renée tells him she wants to think about it. As a result, it creates a rift since Agnès is becoming too comfortable with Maurice.

I was very involved with the first half of the movie, but as soon as it delved into the complicated mess between the mother, Renée her daughter, Agnès and the lawyer, Maurice is when the movie kind of bogs down. I had no idea it was based on Agnès Le Roux, the 29-year-old heiress of one of the country's biggest casinos, the Palais de la Méditerranée in the Riviera city of Nice.

Prior to watching "L'Homme qu'on aimait trop" ("In the Name of My Daughter" in English), I had never heard of Agnès Le Roux. The movie identifies that it's based on the story but some things are changed. In addition to the basic plot, I interpreted the movie as an overall look at an unfortunate trend that came about in the 1970s: the eclipsing of local businesses by bigger ones. In most cases it was chain stores that drove out the small ones, but in this case a mafia guy seeks to buy the casino.

I wouldn't call the movie a masterpiece, but it does a good job showing the breakdown of the mother-daughter relationship after the daughter betrays the mother. It's a truly depressing story. I guess that the French version of "Stand by Me" functions as deliberate irony.

As expected, Catherine Deneuve carries the movie as the distraught mother. Adèle Haenel also turns in a good performance as the daughter. I recommend the movie. I suppose that, like the story of the West Memphis Three, this might be a case that never truly gets solved.

Greetings again from the darkness. The best French films excel at showing how relationships and personality traits can get intertwined to create a big mess where only a small blip once existed. Based on the book by Renee LeRoux, this film from decorated director Andre Techine is self-described "fiction based on real events" and follows the events that began in 1976, and the fallout over a murder-mystery during the next thirty plus years.

Catherine Deneuve plays Renee LeRoux, the owner of a casino in Nice, and mother to Agnes (Adele Haenel). Agnes returns home from Africa after a split from her husband. She is strong-willed and free-spirited, and intent on cashing out her share of the casino to open her own little shop.

Mother and daughter are tormented by their lack of a close relationship, and this frustration intensifies due to the pressure on Mom's casino business applied by local mobster Fratoni (Jean Corso), and even moreso thanks to the romantic relationship that brews between Mom's trusted business adviser Maurice Agnelet (Guillaume Canet) and the much younger Agnes.

Maurice is a well-known (and admitted) Lothario and his business savvy manages to maneuver Agnes into betraying her mother at a crucial time. This betrayal leaves both Maurice and Agnes with a substantial financial gain, while Mom loses her casino. Agnes devolves into obsessed-lover and stalker, while Maurice is content to continue playing the field and enjoy his riches. Soon enough, Agnes disappears without a trace, and of course her mother suspects Maurice has killed her. With no body and no evidence, there can be no murder charges, and this sets Renee on a lifelong mission of proving him guilty.

It's nice to see Ms. Deneuve take on this role, and the best scenes involve her interactions with Ms. Haenel and Mr. Canet (who wrote and directed the 2006 gem Tell No One). The interactions between these characters is fascinating to watch, and provides some insight to the not-always-positive side of human beings. It's also a sign of the times as cigarette smoke is present (sometimes in mass quantities) in most every scene, and the French version of "Stand By Me" fits perfectly in a rare moment that lacks tension. The final act provides quite a statement on the justice system in France, though one hates to jump to conclusions based on a few minutes of a movie.