Sage femme

Viewed at the 2017 Berlin Film festival. MIDWIFE -- (Sage Femme) with Catherine Deneuve (73) and Catherine Frot. The second film of the day at the lavish Zoo Palace venue, was "Sage-Femme" which does not mean "Wise woman" but is the French term for a midwife. Catherine Frot, (born 1956) is the attractive somewhat older woman Claire (she has a grown son) who is a dedicated professional deliverer of babies (we see a number of such deliveries in bloody stomach churning closeups of new borns) but this is not the main story. It turns out that Claire is the resentful daughter of a wayward mother who left home thirty years earlier, Catherine Deneuve. Once Deneuve (still looking good at 73) enters the picture the story becomes a battle of wills between two strong women but when we find that Deneuve is suffering from a terminal brain cancer daughter Claire, until now full of resentment and anger, relents and takes her in.

Claire is a health food advocate and Deneuve just the opposite. She loves her red meat and wine even if it will kill her. There is a side story involving a single unattractive middle aged truck driver who falls in love with Claire and she more or less out of loneliness accepts his advances. But this is excess baggage only there to advance the basic plot between the two intense Catherines. Many little details such as a valuable family ring enter into the story but at the end, Deneuve, rather than continuing to be a burden on Claire literally jumps in the lake (a pond near the vegetable garden Claire maintains) leaving a most touching Farewell note, bearing only an imprint of her lipstick and the ring that has kept changing fingers. This is a very strong thespian pas-de-deux, directed by Martin Provost, and is another strong contender for a best acress bear -- and a best co-star prize, if there was such an award, for Deneuve.

image1.jpegThe Two Catherines, Deneueve and Frot, in "Sage-Femme"

One of the many ways that European and Hollywood films differ is that the former is willing to dwell on the ordinary while the latter usually prefers to make stories bigger than they merit. The French film The Midwife (2017) is an example of storytelling that works simply by putting two very different women together and watching how they resolve the webs of emotion that have become tangled over time.

As she approaches her 50th birthday, devoted midwife and single mother Claire (Catherine Frot) faces professional upheaval when her clinic must close. Her orderly conservative life is fractured further when the woman she blames for her father's suicide suddenly makes contact after 30 years. Opposites in every way, Beatrice (Catherine Deneuve) is manipulative, irresponsible, and a chronic gambler who loves fine wine and rich food. Claire's suspicion that Beatrice wants something is proved correct when the latter confides that she is dying, homeless and without support. Initial rejection turns into understanding for the midwife whose instincts are to nurture life, as she juggles the needs of Beatrice, the clinic's closure, and her neighbour's romantic advances. When her son announces he is quitting medical school and his girlfriend is pregnant, the always competent Claire confronts being helpless in a sea of change.

These narrative strands and their complications are not what sustains the story. Rather it is the way these two icons of French cinema fill out their roles and the emotional connections they make. The flamboyant Beatrice is dramatic and unfiltered, while the restrained Claire is measured and well aware of the other's character flaws. One is a taker, the other a giver, yet both are engaging in different ways. As Beatrice confronts her fate, Claire continues bringing new life into the world in several very moving childbirth scenes that anchor the earthy realism and ordinariness of the story. The filming style dwells on warm and intimate moments, capturing both the charms and emotional swirls of French village life. Great acting and filming complements a script that finds uncontrived humour in everyday places.

Richly nuanced performances in the European cinematic tradition are at the heart of The Midwife. This is not a film that offers rising tensions towards a big resolution. Instead you are likely to leave the cinema with a bitter-sweet afterglow that comes from sharing moments of unbridled joy, sadness, and the ambivalent ordinariness of our existence.

I gave this 30 minutes to get going, but there were no signs of anything of interest developing and so early termination seemed both appropriate and ethical.

Perhaps it picks up pace later on, but I just didn't care what happened to either of the two principal characters. (I actually had a sense of deja vu while watching this: perhaps it's that Catherine Deneuve has played several similar characters in this latter part of her career?)

I really enjoyed this movie; in part as it starred my favorite actress from 2016: Catherine Frot, and her exquisite performance as 'Marguerite'. Frot has such stillness and poise on screen, but can also command great presence with minimal effort. Here, as the titular 'Midwife, Catherine Frot is delivered a role that gives her a chance to really shine. From the opening scenes her 'Claire' is a good woman; a skilled professional but lacking a personal life or much hope it seems. Blessed with a son she only sees fleetingly, her life is turned upside down when Beatrice played by Catherine Deneuve re-enters her radius after vanishing more than 3 decades before and causing Claire's father (one time lover of Beatrice) irreparable damage and an indelible imprint for young Claire. It is a fascinating dance that these two characters create through their often awkward scenes together.

The film is only a success because of the chemistry between these two marvellous actresses. The narrative ambles all over the place, messily edited and at times a little predictable, but seeing these two share the screen is pure magic, and compensates for where the film is otherwise lacking. Beneath the choppy script lies some rich fabric about life and death; life changes and the power of forgiveness and redemption: always soulful pursuits for the big screen. I wanted this to be perfection; of course it is not. Catherine Deneuve deserves an Oscar nomination for this; she is unafraid to show her age; her flaws and creates a memorable screen character, a former good time gal, whose life is slipping away from her, as she clings to the joie devivre that had sustained her. It is a privilege to watch a screen icon; still beautiful, but displaying how beauty can fade. There is much dignity here from both Catherine the Greats!

Frot and Deneuve are magical together. The acting is sublime.