Tout ce qui brille

That's a story of two friends living in a suburb and dreaming about a word more posh. I think it's a good movie but sometimes I was boring even I laughed a lot. I love a scene where they sing in the street "chanson sur ma drôle de vie". They're free and it seems like nothing can be difficult in their lives.

presented at the French film Festival in Wellington, this film portrays a slice of contemporary society in France. 50 years after the independence of North African countries, children and grand children of immigrants have integrated into a wider context.

There is no story line as such, rather a sequence of mini events in the life of two friends, with two socially opposite Parisian suburbs as a backdrop: the affluent Neuilly and its modest counterpart Puteaux. This polarity enables some misunderstandings about who lives where adding an amusing touch to the mural.

Brilliant acting from both Leila Bekhti and Geraldine Nakache (also the director) Virginie Ledoyen is impeccable albeit in a supporting role.

The movie starts quite slow. In fact, it is slow. But at least it does not waste time on pointless dialogues, quite frequent in the popular European productions, like a woman coming and telling the character "I am your mother, so..." Unusual for French popular movies, the characters are kept to a minimum.

Yet there is an ambiguity which probably stems from the double authorship. It starts as the story of two girls. It moves to the story of one girl. So it is about the one girl and her relationships. Yet the second girl has the whole family featured. It ends up being the story of the second girl. Who happens to be the writer/director.

The film can be considered a snapshot of Francilian life. Yet the title and the general attitude point in the direction of a cheap moralistic view. In the end I was so happy there are no traces of the regular American excess common in moralist movies. No mother dies to hear the violins play and watch a tear in the corner of the main character's eye. But probably that is what misses: there is no high and low. Which turns the whole experience quite dull.

The story aside, the camera is quite good, it reminded me a little of Bigas Luna's style. It is most probably just a coincidence.

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As a fan of Leila and finding Geraldine Nakache as the good surprise from "Coursier", it was granted that I would buy my ticket for their meeting.

This movie is depicted as a comedy but for me, it's rather a drama or an acute analysis of commuters' life near Paris, common people whose live doesn't give extras.

Thus, the movie is plain right when it deals with the schizophrenia of the duo: they dream of easy life with money but their roots are fundamental and they have to do the best of what they got in their hands. It's a lesson of wisdom, nearly a zen teaching.

The key moment of the movie for me is when Geraldine stares at her boxes and start to built a life from there. I wish I could find this same spirit because wherever I lived, my small town, Paris, I never felt at home.

I was also moved by her dreamy, introverted mood and the bond she makes with the child of their friend, because I lived this. Her father speaks volume without any words: amazing!

On the other hand, I was under the charm of Leila as usual and it was difficult to see her running against wall.

I also noticed the excellent play of Mrs Ledoyen, which is maybe nourished from her real life.

So, I remember to have felt strange going out of the theater: a bit at peace, a bit sad. This is the same spirit I have now writing this review. For me, it's a sort of french "American X", because in its real life, almost documentary setting, i found a wonderful, unforgettable movie that resonates with my most profound feelings.

The film tells the story of two girls from poor Moroccan families in Paris and their friendship. There are no interesting twists or turns in the movie, which jumps from one uninteresting "real-life situation" to the other, without making deep observations or being somewhat entertaining. We see those girls interact with their families, friends, colleagues, lovers, we see them partying and working, talking to each other, but the dialogs are rather boring. One thing that I found amusing is that the characters use a lot of "verlan" and they dress fashionably cute. The bottom line is that the film is dull, the characters are under-developed and the dialogs are rather plain.