ma femme est une actrice – france (2001)

Ma Femme Est Une Actrice

I recently watched an interview with Charlotte Gainsbourg and she mentioned this film in it, so I added it to my Blockbuster list.

I’m glad I did, it’s that kind of film that the French do really well – delving into relationships, and why people behave the way they do.

Yvan, a sports journalist – in the public’s eye, a ‘nobody’, is married to Charlotte (Gainsbourg) – a very famous French actress.  Although he loves her, he is beginning to get rather annoyed with how she seems to be the property of ‘the people’ – forever being interrupted in restaurants for autographs, or having photos taken in the streets.

When she goes to make a film in London with a reknowned director (Keith Allen), he starts to get more and more annoyed with her job, and how it keeps him from her, and starts to obsess that she is having an affair with her co-star (Terence Stamp).

Being the daughter of Serge & Jane Birkin, she is multi-lingual and after watching a fair chunk of the film set in Paris with her speaking fluent French, it is slightly disorientating that when the setting switches to London and everyone is speaking English, she has a very ‘proper’ English accent.

I really enjoyed it – although the second plot of Yvan’s sister and brother-in-law fighting over whether their baby boy should be circumcised felt a little at odds with the main story.

My rating – 8/10

l’appartement – france (1995)

L'Appartement

I have had this DVD sitting on the shelf for a couple of years, I think, and for some reason forgot all about it!

I’m kinda embarressed that I’ve never seen this before, as I know that it is a film that epitomises French cinema.  All the elements are included – chain-smoking, male-hugging, brooding looks, casual chic fashion, women friends that always seem on the verge of lesbianism, deep-rooted envy, stalking, devastating misunderstandings and a splash of casual sex.

Perfect.

Vincent Cassel is one of my favourite actors, and it’s great to see him 15 years younger playing Max, a Parisian playboy type who has just decided to settle down and propose to his current girlfriend.  However, a chance encounter sends him chasing after Lisa, the big love of his life.

And who would blame him, as it is the infinitely beautiful Monica Bellucci (who he married in real life a few years later).  All is not as it seems though, and him, Lisa, his friend Lucien, Lucien’s girlfriend Alice and a widower called Daniel become embroiled in a web of lies, intrigue and heartache.

My rating 8.5/10