Review by Doug Cooper
Stars Emilie Dequenne, Catherine Deneuve, Michel Blanc, Ronit Elkabetz, Mathieu Demy, Nicolas Duvachelle, Jeremy Quaegebeur, Djibril Pavade, Alain Cauchi
Written by Andre Techine, Odile Barski & Jean-Marie Besset
Certification UK 15
Runtime 105 minutes
Directed by Andre Techine
Any actress cast as Catherine Deneuve's daughter should by rights be very pretty and Emily Dequenne, taking the leading role in this vivid and compelling subtitled French drama, more than fulfills that remit. She's very sexy too, but isn't required to be, as a young woman whose mind is something of a fantasy land, pretending to go for job interviews when she in fact is happily zoning out rollerblading.
One day she meets a young guy (Duvauchelle) who immediately hits on her and they soon embark on a relationship, moving in together to work at the premises of a shady businessman whose store contains hidden drugs. This is much to her mother's silent disapproval. Deneuve is an old aquaintance of highly regarded Jewish lawyer Blanc and she persuades her daughter to try for an interview with his firm.
It would be invidious to give too many plot details away but it is OK to say that this is based on a true story, in which a girl stated to police that she had been the victim of an anti-semitic attack while on the train. citing six youths who roughed her up, cutting her face and inscribing the swastika on her torso. It came to light that she had concocted the whole scenario from her imagination.
The first half of the film depicts the events in the young lady's life leading up to her troubled call for attention. It's very well played, with Dequenne utterly convincing as the seemingly happy individual with obviously more going on below the surface than we first realise. By turns loving, flighty and depressed she gives a first rate performance, imbuing the character with a natural air and eschewing histrionics when her crime as it were is found out. As her boyfriend, Duvauchelle is plausibly rough hewn, hiding his dodgy work from his lover, while Deneuve radiates a magisterial calm as the worried mother. The offspring of Blanc's character, a divorced couple with a teenage son, also contribute a subtle dynamic to the familial dramatics.
This is a very good film indeed, taking its time to work its affects and delivering them in an assured but unfussy fashion, never calling attention to itself but drawing you in a with a confident rhythm. It's absorbing and uniformly well performed, recommended for those looking for a well crafted, well written effort that elicits respect.