La daronne

Subtitles... patience (isabelle huppert) is a translator for the french police. When there's a bust, she is brought in to question the prisoners, and to listen in on telephone calls. Right now, she also needs to raise money pronto for her own rent and for her elderly mother. When patience overhears a conversation that is someone she knows, she helps the drug runner hide the hash before the cops get there. Lots of cussing in various languages. Patience keeps taking things further and further... she sets up her own network, and even figures out a way to launder the money with the home-owner association. Sure, we're overlooking a few things, but it's fun to see how far she can go with this scheme. Will she get away with it?? The title on screen at the beginning is la daronne, which really means the mom. Directed by jean paul salome, who also made sitting duck with huppert. It's fun. Zips right along. She's a criminal, but we want her to succeed.

The chameleon and always infallible Isabelle Huppert becomes a queen of drug trafficking among the traffickers of Paris in this ¨police comedy¨ or ¨thriller with hints of humor¨ depending on how you look at it . In the film Huppert plays a Patience Portefeux , a discreet translator in charge of phone surveillance for a narcotics police unit , from the Parisian anti-drug squad and whose chief - Hippolyte Girardot- turns out to be her lover . She goes over to the other side when, by some twist of fate, a loot of hashish falls into her hands . Isabelle Huppert is 50% Cop 50% Dealer 100% Pure !

Based on the novel by Hannelore Cayre , the story centers around Patience Portefeux, an underpaid , overworked French-Arabic translator then she realizes she knows the mother of one of the drug dealers, Patience decides to cover for him and gets herself more and more deeply involved in the world of drug trafficking. Soon, she is using her insider knowledge and police resources to build her own crime network and earns the name Mama Weed. Mama Maria or Mama Weed offers a sharp look into the world of drug trafficking, skillfully blending irony , drama and suspense. Huppert gives a splendid acting as a translator working for the police gets involved in the other side of drug dealing . Huppert explained that "this character is quite a gift for an actress" , she is Patient, a widow with unfortunate life who becomes a double agent, a role out of the ordinary , which was created by the novelist Hannelore Cayre based on his own experiences as a criminal lawyer.

It displays an intriguing and adequate musical score by notorious French composer Bruno Coulais. As well as atmospheric , adequate cinematography by cameraman Julien Hirsch . The motion picture was well directed and written -along with Hannelore Cayre- by Jean Paul Salomé . Craftsman Jean-Paul Salomé served as president of the ARP (the French Authors', Directors', and Producers' Guild) , has won several awards and has an interesting and prestigious career , first working as a trainee for director Claude Lelouch, who hired him during the production of his film ¨Bolero¨. He went on to direct two documentaries, ¨L'Heure d'aimer¨ in 1983 and ¨La Petite Commission¨ in 1984, both of which were selected at numerous film festivals . After making his first feature-length film for television , he directed the feature film ¨Les Braqueuses¨ in 1993. Five years later, he directed ¨Tourist Trap¨, which tells the story of a group of tourists who get lost in the middle of nowhere in the United States. In 2000, he directed a new cinematic adaptation of the myth of Belphegor,¨Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre¨. In 2004, he directed an updated adaptation of the iconic tale of the gentleman thief , ¨Arsène Lupin¨, followed, in 2007, by ¨Female Agents¨with a French star-studded cast . And¨The Chameleon¨, which was shot in the United States, was released in 2010. His most recent feature, ¨Playing Dead¨ was released in December 2013. And this ¨Mama Weed¨ (2020) at his best . Rating : 7/10 . The yarn will appeal to Isabelle Huppert fans.

My Review- The Godmother, or La Daronne, or Mama Weed My Rating 8/10 This very entertaining French film amazingly wasn't even considered in submissions for Best International Feature movie and as far as I'm concerned it's far superior than the winning Oscar movie from Denmark "Another Round." It may sound an odd description in describing La Daronne or "Mama Weed "as an elegant ,touching, and humorous film about a glamorous drug dealer but that's what it really is .

The wonderful and still beautiful French Actress Isabelle Huppert who was nominated for an Oscar in 2017 ( becoming one of only 7 actresses to be nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for a French Speaking role) for Elle stars as Patience Portefeux an underpaid, overworked French-Arabic translator in charge of phone surveillance for a narcotics police unit uses her insider knowledge and police resources to build her own crime network.

The film script of The Godmother is written by Hannelore Cayre, the author of the original novel, La Daronne, which took out the 'Quais du Polar', a prize awarded annually to the best crime or thriller novel by a European author in French or a French translation.

It's skilfully directed by Jean Paul Salomé and has a great supporting cast including Hippolyte Girardot as the Police Chief in charge of trying to apprehend Mama Weed who is much closer to him than he really thinks . Also a lovely performance by Liliane Rovére as Mme Portefeux the mother of Patience who is in aged care .

There's a cute local reference in the film when Patience is describing a photo on her wall to Sydney in this film about our New Year Fireworks Celebrations , which shows how famous our annual New Year Celebration is.

This is a very entertaining film and well worth a look I especially loved the Christmas display at Galeries Lafayette where Mama Weed and her 2 daughters "go shopping with her mother."

Nothing works in this movie. The scenario is bad, really bad. And again Isabelle Huppert is not doing well to make it better. Save your time, do watch it!

Isabelle Huppert - just the name alone should be enough for some to not even think twice about how they will feel about this movie. And she is really getting it - well done. Now morally speaking there are things that will be going on, that not everyone will agree with. Maybe that is the wrong way of putting it. But you'll know what I mean when you see the movie (or even the trailer I assume).

The movie is very well thought of and is quite the entertaining ride - while the subject matter is serious and there are certain scenes that are on the violent side - overall the tone is that of a comedy. Acting overall is top notch, there are certain things that may feel like an easy way out (problems that almost literally disappear to a degree) ... and the ending is something that while nice, is nothing that is as amazing or gives the movie an extra push ... but maybe that is nitpicking. Just enjoy the thriller ride with a lot of laughs (and still some social message hidden in there)