Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!


MADEMOISELLE CHAMBON

France, 2009

In French, with English subtitles

 

Cast:

Jean – Vincent Lindon

Véronique Chambon – Sandrine Kiberlain

Anne-Marie - Aure Atika

 

Written by Stéphane Brizé and Florence Vignon

Directed by Stéphane Brizé

 

 

I doubt any film folk other than the French could have come up with this miniature, minimalist masterpiece about ordinary lives dealing with a clichéd, yet emotionally devastating, situation. This is precisely what Stéphane Brizé and company have done in the exquisite little French drama, 'Mademoiselle Chambon.'

 

In a small French town lives Jean (Vincent Lindon), a hardworking builder, with his working wife, Anne-Marie (Aure Atika), and their little boy, Jérémy (Arthur Le Houérou). Besides his young family, Jean is also devoted to his 80-year-old father, and from what we can gather, quite happy with his work in construction, and life in general. However, that staid, contented life is about to be shattered soon after he meets his son's new school teacher, Véronique Chambon.

 

Véronique is an introverted, itinerant, single soul, an ex-violinist from Paris, who, for whatever reason, never lingers more than a year at any one place. When Jean shows up another time at the school, she suddenly asks him a favour: that he fill in for another student's parent unable to fulfill a request to talk to the children about one's occupation. Jean agrees, and the talk goes over well with the curious, question-laden kids.

 

Afterwards, Véronique then asks if Jean could fix a draughty window in her house. He agrees to do the job. From hereon, an unspoken attraction between the two, who hail from starkly different cultural milieux, blossoms.  Jean is captivated by a glimpse into a world new to him, one gleaned through browsing through Véronique's library – and soon, through listening to her initially reluctant and hastily resurrected violin playing. As for her, her enigmatic persona remains less transparent than his; perhaps she is attracted to the simple sincerity of his heart, and the depth and warmth of his love for all those around him.

 

The core of the film comprises how both Jean and Véronique struggle to deal with this illicit yet unrelenting and undeniable volcanic passion welling up within them.  It would now simply be a sin to say anything more about how matters unfold and resolve – or not – for everyone concerned.

 

Aside from this central romantic conflict, the film offers up a host of other little gems to be thoroughly enjoyed for their rarity especially on the Hollywood screen.  The screenplay is sparing with words, and that is rightly so, given the quietness of life in a small town.  Director Brizé relies on the most subtle expressions of emotion and intent by his cast of fine actors. The silences, the glances, the unspoken thoughts and feelings are all masterfully woven into a moving, manipulative - but not cheaply so! - tale.  Of note, too, is the economy of the script in revealing to us the essentials of each character.  In the opening scene, we quickly grasp the very basic formal education received by Jean and Anne-Marie as they try to help their son with his French grammar homework.

 

And once more, blessed with perfect ensemble casting, it is in the authenticity of the actors' performance, including that of Arthur Le Houérou as Jérémy, and his fellow classmates – children just being children in the vein of the documentary film, To Be and To Have; in the 'realness' of the characters; and in the truths held within the script that give this film a rank several cuts above the usual domestic love triangle movie.  Its closest cinematic kin would be the 1945 David Lean classic, Brief Encounter (with Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard).  And like that old film, no special effects, car chases or explosions occur within a million miles of this story.  Yet, as the screen darkens and the credits roll, your insides will be left profoundly rent as the Elgar piece holds you in a bittersweetly rapt state.  Strongly recommended for those seeking thoughtful and emotionally compelling viewing.



***************************

P. S.. And for a 180-degree counterpoint to this film, I'd recommend the contemporaneous 2009 film, Partir (Leaving), with English expatriate-now-Parisian Kristin Scott Thomas in a similar (but less sympathique) role to Jean's, and enjoying the benefits - when we first meet her - of a better-off, bourgeois life as a doctor's wife.




Page Views: #