Trop belle pour toi

I saw this film at least twice in the theaters and then again a few years later on DVD and loved it each time. To me, the reason it works so well might also be why some viewers might find it off-putting: much of what is presented on-screen is that of a subjective and unreliable narrator (Gerard Depardieu's character). Thus, scenes will often play out twice; first from the perspective of what he imagines, and then from a (possibly) more factual viewpoint. This applies to the other main characters as well, both his stunning wife and rather average secretary.

Each character in their own way sees themselves at the center of the story, though the film mostly follows the path of Depardieu. We are left to wonder why he'd embark on this affair in the first place, and though I can think of a few plausible answers, it might just be: sometimes people make choices that they themselves could not explain, but they do it anyway. As viewers, we are just there for the ride.

There is also plenty of humor throughout, both poking a little fun at the whole love triangle concept, and a range of upper middle-class conceits in addition. It's by no means a critique or polemic though; it's just that a lot of life really CAN be sort of silly if you take a few steps back. To me, the way the film is told and shot indicates that the director feels empathy for each of the three characters, and no one is entirely hero or villain. At the same time the movie might well be a commentary on the tendency of the way people go running in circles, chasing their own tale in the name of happiness. Either way, it ably straddles both the dramatic and comedic in a manner that French cinema often does better than any other.

Bertrand Blier's story of love at first sight between a successful auto salesman and his older, unglamorous secretary does more than simply dispel the skin-deep myth of physical beauty. Gérard Depardieu describes his new lover as "not beautiful, but nice", but his aristocratic young wife dismisses her for being 'common', setting up a conflict not between age and beauty but between opposing social classes, with a proletarian lug who married into the upper crust becoming justifiably mushy over someone less pretentious than his wife. It sounds like fun, but anyone expecting a lightweight romantic farce will be disappointed to find something closer to an intellectual exercise in style, designed around an exaggerated sense of melodrama and several odd, operatic gestures: characters thinking out loud in public or engaging in third-person soliloquies, and so forth. Not to mention, in an obscure ongoing joke, a few outspoken criticisms of the music of Franz Schubert.

I have just finished watching this film, and it is probably too soon to write a review. However, the music is swirling through my head, and the beautiful photography and scenes are fresh in my mind. The glossy elegant wife and the warm but ordinary woman who is the temp at the husband's car retail outlet are both extraordinary women. The wife for her killer intelligence and frankness (now that's a wedding speech that is unusual)and the outrageously warm,sexy woman who falls for and, I suppose, seduces her husband. Yes, it does jump about a bit, and one is never sure with the conversations if that is normal behaviour (in which case, they all have issues). Gerard Depardieu could melt the paint off the walls with his eyes, and his acting has depth indeed. A thought-provoking film, and an absorbing one. Recommended if you like more than a chick flick.

In this clever take on love and relationships, the affairs of three people are enigmatically portrayed. Everyone adores Bernard's wife Florence. His friends lust for her, her friends envy her. She is very beautiful, and for Bernard there is nothing more left to desire. And that is precisely what troubles him: she may just be too beautiful. His secretary, a temp named Colette, is completely the opposite to Florence. But in her physical unattractiveness Bernard finds a refuge to his peculiar dilemma. Despite of what may seem as a logical explanation, he is not plagued by an inferiority complex. What drives Bernard is the psychological force of the middle-age crisis. Some people wonder whether what they have is as good as it gets. Bernard actually knows that. The second he is near Florence he knows that that is true; gazes of his friends reassure him in that.

With Colette, however, he feels completely at ease. There is no need for self-assertion and he is free to choose. Naturally, there is much more to this film, which is full of surprises and unexpected events. The only country where such a complex and somewhat surrealistic plot could have been brought to life, where careful avoidance of turning the film into a soap opera, a pointless comedy, or a tedious drama meets with the bittersweet taste of love and desire is France, and the philosophy of love, the satire, and the superb acting -- Depardieu, Bouquet, and Balasko make a lovely team -- are also typically French here. Ironically enough, the question of the age is inverted to "what does a MAN want?"

The few reviews here indicate that this is a film which provokes in some boredom and confusion, while other will find it provocative and daring in its originality. Maltin gives it a two-star rating and says "after a bright beginning, it goes absolutely nowhere." I was prepared to abandon the film after 15 minutes or so, but the absolutely gorgeous Schubert melodies that pervade the score and tie it all together....they kept me going with the film, and the fantastic photography, acting, and plot twists sustained my interest to the end.

Yes, the approach is surreal and the story-telling non-linear. Much of the dialog is brilliant, but it soon became obvious (to me, anyway) that these people are not actually saying these things to one another ... and what an interesting world it would be if we could say aloud all the things that we deeply feel! I cannot pretend to have understood it all, but the film had an intellectual appeal and, to repeat an earlier point, a ravishing score of Schubert pieces which adorn the film like precious jewels.