Pas de scandale

Benoit Jacquot's work hasn't been seen much in North America. His work doesn't have the slam-bang vulgarity of Patrice Chereau (Reine Margot) or the easy commercial charm of Patrice Leconte (Les Bronzes, M. Hire) to name two contemporaries. I liked Le septieme ciel and L'ecole de la chair very much--Jacquot has a real touch with actors, and he managed to coax some expression out of Isabelle Huppert in the latter film.

This one is like a French version of the Magnificent Ambersons; you have the same sense of a family crumbling through generational conflict. Jacquot isn't Welles, however, and there are stretches of dullness (those cafe scenes). The story couldn't be more timely: a CEO has just been released from prison after doing time for some dubious transactions. He's depressed, guilty at how his family have suffered, perplexed at the mixed signals his wife is sending. Luchini and Huppert are excellent at these short scenes of bitterness and frustration at home. Gregoire is a blend of criminal and Prince Mishkin, Luchini looks like Alec Guinness and plays wonderfully. Agnes is a tightly coiled woman who never breaks down; we wait for the explosion that never comes.

Stephanie the hairdresser is meant to represent the natural instincts that the Jeancourt family have tried to repress for so long. The scene between her and Agnes over the forgotten scarf is wonderfully uncomfortable (see it). Louis finally manages to blurt out, at the family dinner, that he has a daughter, born out of wedlock, whom he has never told his family about. The others don't hesitate for a second: congratulations are in order, emotional pain is chased away.

There are many levels of emotional drama that are much more common in French cinema than in the United States. While American moviegoers tend to demand action and fast-paced dialogue in their films, French moviegoers are much more comfortable with films that explore the ways people deal with relationships, especially when they also poke a little fun at society.

This particular film does both in a way that is totally French, and simply cannot be understood in an American context. It is serious and yet it is light. Readjusting to life after serving a term in prison which he felt he did not deserve, a French executive mocks conventions even as he struggles with finding himself.

It's a good-natured kind of French cynicism that delights and annoys at the same time. From mocking people in a restaurant to wondering what's up at work to an innocent flirtation with a beautiful young woman, the focus is on the emotions, with a depth seldom found in American films.

Enjoyable for those who are tired of more of the same.

Main characters: brothers Grégoire and Louis Jeancourt. Louis is a rather unscrupulous TV personality and serial philanderer who confides to one of his paramours that Grégoire (who inherited their father's business) was always the preferred son. As the movie opens Grégoire is just out of jail where he spent a few months convicted of some unspecified financial crime. He is trying to come to terms with the turn his life has taken (Fabrice Luchini, an actor of many talents is a master at showing bewilderment on screen).

For the rest of the movie we mostly hear snatches of conversation (some almost subliminal). Some information is nonverbal: the brothers' father is on screen a few minutes and doesn't say much but projects a somewhat menacing image that makes one suspect he had a hand in Grégoire's troubles. (Grégoire declares he is "guilty but not responsible"). And there is a touch of cruelty (or revenge) in Louis using a diminished and listless Grégoire in one of his programs. The tale ia slow, deliberate and smoothly told, supported by excellent cinematography and acting, especially from Luchini, Isabelle Huppert (Grégoire's wife) and Vincent Lindon (Louis).

Director Benot Jacquot is sometimes niched as an inheritor of the Nouvelle Vague, on the basis of his early work as assistant director for Marguerite Duras and his first feature film with Anna Karina. Not a good fit. There is no "Jacquot movie" as the auteur theory requires; his filmography shows he is at home in, and can adapt his style to rather different genres.

This film deals with a rich boss who's been put in the clink for insider trading or something like that. He's just come out and intends now to live life as he pleases.

A total bore from beginning to end. Nothing happens, no one speaks and by the end you are no more involved than you were at the beginning ! Even die-hard Lucchini fans ( of which I am not one ) among my friends found the film totally soporific ! We just regret not having taken our pillows with us to the cinema to sleep more comfortably !

What really makes me laugh is that film critics (intellos ) all over France are acclaiming this film as some superb work of art !