|
Potiche
| Released |
17 June 2011 |
| Director |
Francois Ozon |
Starring
|
Catherine Deneuve, Gérard Depardieu, Fabrice Luchini, Karin Viard, Judith Godreche, Jeremie Renier, Sergi Lopez |
| Writer(s) |
Francois Ozon |
| Producer(s) |
Eric Altmeyer, Nicolas Altmeyer |
| Origin |
France |
| Running Time |
103 minutes |
| Genre |
Comedy |
| Rating |
15A |
|
|
Carry On French-style!
François Ozon is one of the most acclaimed contemporary French directors around, for some baffling reason. He came to our attention on this side of the water about eight years ago when two films, Swimming Pool and 8 Femmes, were released to ill-deserved international acclaim. Swimming Pool was a pretentious bore and 8 Femmes featured some of France’s greatest actresses making complete fools of themselves. It was genuinely one of the most irritating films ever made and unfortunately Ozon seems to be using the same template for his new film.
Potiche is a film set in the Seventies, shot and acted like a film from the Seventies, a really, really bad one. It stars one of his 8 Femmes actresses Catherine Deneuve who plays Suzanne, a glamorous granny and wife of Robert (Fabrice Luchini) who owns the local umbrella factory. It’s 1977 though and France is rife with industrial turmoil and Robert’s managerial style is pretty tyrannical. He’s something of a tyrant at home too constantly belittling his wife as a “potiche”, a trophy wife to be seen and not heard.
So Suzanne continues with her mundane life while her husband carries on an affair with whomever he fancies, including his secretary Nadège (Karin Viard). Her stereotypical children, the right-wing Joëlle (Judith Godrèche) and the left-wing Laurent (Jérémie Renier) both pity and patronise her. Things change though when striking factory workers hold Robert hostage and Suzanne makes an appeal to an old flame Maurice Babin (Gérard Depardieu). Babin is a local communist politician and Robert’s sworn enemy, but he agrees to help him get released on the condition that they negotiate with the workers. With the stress of his ordeal bringing on health problems, Robert agrees to take a few months off and Suzanne is put in charge of the factory. However Suzanne surprises everyone by being a far more competent boss than he ever was, working in harmony with the employees and increasing the firm’s productivity through innovation. She also gets involved in a budding romance with Babin. However, soon her husband returns from his holiday and he’s intent on using any means necessary to reclaim his position.
This is painful stuff, made all the worse by the fact that the film is clearly so pleased with itself. Ozon may be convinced he’s making a sharp satire on the sexual politics of the Seventies but really this is just a poorly made farce. Think the worst of the Carry On movies and take out the laughs. All the cast perform as if they’ve been given mass doses of Prozac, indeed Catherine Deneuve wanders around with a little smile on her face throughout as if she's bought the whole chemist. In contrast, Gerard Depardieu looks as if he's been buying wine and cheese shops by the dozen and eating the inventory. Add in a few hokey musical numbers, which are a favourite of Ozon, and you have a smug, deeply irritating waste of time on every level.
Avoid!
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Jim O’Connor |
