Copacabana

I saw this last month at the 2011 Palm Springs International Film Festival. Isabelle Huppert is a delight and should have been a household name in America but I guess the 57 French film star hasn't made many English language films. Huppert plays Babou, a Bohemian free-spirit non-traditionalist who drifts from job to job and has no serious relationship. Her daughter Esmerelda (played by Huppert's real-life daughter Lolita Chammah) is an uptight traditionalist who is embarrassed by her mother's eccentric dress and attitude and wants to exclude her from attending her upcoming wedding. Babou decides to reform her ways for acceptance in her daughters wedding and gets a job selling timeshares in the off season of a resort city on the Belgian coast. In the supporting cast are Aure Atika as Baou's boss Lydie, Jurgen Delnaet as Babou's temporary love interest Bart, Chantel Banlier as Babou's co-worker and roommate Irene and rounding out the cast are Joachim Lombard, Noemie Lvovsky, Guillaume Gouix, Magli Woch and Nelly Antignac. This is the third feature film for writer/director Marc Fitoussi and he has assembled a great cast of film vets for the roles but it's such a central character driven film that the supporting roles get kind of lost. It's a witty fast moving film with lots of comedy and a great performance by Huppert. Babou dreams of getting away to Copacabana beach in Rio and lately loves everything Brazilian so thus the film's title. I would have liked this film better had the other characters been a little more interesting but I would certainly recommend it and give it an 8.5 out of 10.

Spectators who will go and see 'Copacabana' to have a good time will not be disappointed because writer-director Marc Fitoussi's last film IS a warm-hearted comedy but it is also much more than that. And it is always pleasant to get MORE than what was expected than the contrary, isn't it?

What they will get first is Isabelle Huppert as Babou, the central character, frolicking, laughing,dancing in cafés, wearing flashy dresses and thick make-up. A welcome change from her usual grave, restrained, suffering self in recent movies. And with the support of a bunch of funny actors and actresses (Luis Rego, as Babou's bashful old lover; Noémie Lvovsky, as her disillusioned former friend; Chantal Banlier, irrepressible as her business rival) and well-written witty dialogs, the comedic aspect of the film is undeniably a success.

But 'Copacabana' is not just a straight comedy. Marc Fitoussi's tale of an eccentric mother who tries to win back her daughter is much more complex and much richer than what you could expect. For the film is also philosophical (to what extent can you remain free in society, especially when you have children?), psychological (the conflict between Babou who wants to remain off the beaten track and Esmeralda, her daughter who wishes, as a reaction, a steady middle-class life, is well dissected), satiric (the dubious methods of time-share business are denounced), documentary (Ostend, on the Belgian sea-coast has rarely been filmed in the off-season), ethnological (the Flemish shown in the film are real people) and social (the young homeless couple episode).

And the miracle is that 'Copacabana' is so well written that all these aspects blend together harmoniously. You follow this seamless story from its beginning to its end effortlessly, until the final surprise (which I am afraid will remain a surprise until you see the film).

'Copacabana' is a well made film that doesn't overwhelm you but seeps into your brain and your heart. A feel-good movie that never falls into the trap of over-simplification. A kind of Gallic Capra-esquire comedy that makes love, intelligence and eccentricity meet to everybody's delight.