This day we intended to see A Christmas Carol by Robert Zemeckis at Cinéma Lux in La Châtre but we missed it because it began earlier than we had thought (or than I, Gunnar, had thought to be more exact).
Instead we watched the french film Le Vilain (The Vilain) by Albert Dupontel who also had one of two leading roles. In the second leading role we could see Catherine Frot.
This is a story about an old woman - Maniette (Frot) - who together with her neighbours tries to fight back the plans to build a bank on the same site as their houses is situated. The property developers has succeeded in buying free some estates but this stubborn woman and some of her neighbour-friends don't want to move.
One day her son Sidney Thomas (Dupontel) - whom she hasn't met for twenty years - knocks on her door. He is chased by a van with vilains trying to kill him. He seeks a refuge and finds his old home where his mother still lives.
Spontaneously she becomes very happy but what she doesn't know at first is that he is a 'vilain' - a bank robber.
She finds however some evidence pointing in the direction to him, displaying aspects of his personality she didn't know of and soon she finds out that he's not at all working in a bank (as he had told her).
It also seems as if she can't die (even though she wants to) as long as he is living the life he lives. God obviously has a plan for her life, wanting her to make him a better son, or at least this is what she thinks.
When the son get's to know that his mother will die if he behaves good and becomes a decent person, he tries hard to fulfill this her wishes. If his mother dies he will inherit her!
He even tries to kill her but she is well aware of this and now an interesting game emurges between the two and this is interfoliated by the story about the struggle between the bank and the house owners among other things.
Maniette however now realizes that she can use her son in this her effort to fight back the plans of this property developer.
How it ends? Well...................................
To say something concerning the two principal actors:
Personally I think that Albert Dupontel is an actor and a director who deserves being better known outside France. He has in his acting displayed a diversity in characters and a versatility that makes him interesting.
This goes for his films too. Although this is'nt his best film, it's however a charming œuvre with a lot of warmth and humor.
He actually started of as a medical student and in some of his films you find a somewhat particular doctor and this goes for the above film too.
Catherine Frot is an actress, not as well known as some of her french 'acting sisters' and this is a pitty as she also has a multitude of 'strings on her acting harp', spanning from dramatic to comic roles.
A minus in this film was her make up. If the intention was to make her look old, they didn't succeed. This became obvious in the scenes with men and women in 'a certain age' acting along side her.
This was a light comedy but as such rather charming as I said and in some way I saw a certain resemblance with œuvres by Peter Sellers or Alec Guiness (in his comic roles). Maybe I'm wrong but this was just a feeling I had.
The film had some superficial aesthetic affinity with films by Jeunet.
Instead we watched the french film Le Vilain (The Vilain) by Albert Dupontel who also had one of two leading roles. In the second leading role we could see Catherine Frot.
This is a story about an old woman - Maniette (Frot) - who together with her neighbours tries to fight back the plans to build a bank on the same site as their houses is situated. The property developers has succeeded in buying free some estates but this stubborn woman and some of her neighbour-friends don't want to move.
One day her son Sidney Thomas (Dupontel) - whom she hasn't met for twenty years - knocks on her door. He is chased by a van with vilains trying to kill him. He seeks a refuge and finds his old home where his mother still lives.
Spontaneously she becomes very happy but what she doesn't know at first is that he is a 'vilain' - a bank robber.
She finds however some evidence pointing in the direction to him, displaying aspects of his personality she didn't know of and soon she finds out that he's not at all working in a bank (as he had told her).
It also seems as if she can't die (even though she wants to) as long as he is living the life he lives. God obviously has a plan for her life, wanting her to make him a better son, or at least this is what she thinks.
When the son get's to know that his mother will die if he behaves good and becomes a decent person, he tries hard to fulfill this her wishes. If his mother dies he will inherit her!
He even tries to kill her but she is well aware of this and now an interesting game emurges between the two and this is interfoliated by the story about the struggle between the bank and the house owners among other things.
Maniette however now realizes that she can use her son in this her effort to fight back the plans of this property developer.
How it ends? Well...................................
To say something concerning the two principal actors:
Personally I think that Albert Dupontel is an actor and a director who deserves being better known outside France. He has in his acting displayed a diversity in characters and a versatility that makes him interesting.
This goes for his films too. Although this is'nt his best film, it's however a charming œuvre with a lot of warmth and humor.
He actually started of as a medical student and in some of his films you find a somewhat particular doctor and this goes for the above film too.
Catherine Frot is an actress, not as well known as some of her french 'acting sisters' and this is a pitty as she also has a multitude of 'strings on her acting harp', spanning from dramatic to comic roles.
A minus in this film was her make up. If the intention was to make her look old, they didn't succeed. This became obvious in the scenes with men and women in 'a certain age' acting along side her.
This was a light comedy but as such rather charming as I said and in some way I saw a certain resemblance with œuvres by Peter Sellers or Alec Guiness (in his comic roles). Maybe I'm wrong but this was just a feeling I had.
The film had some superficial aesthetic affinity with films by Jeunet.
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