The term "star power" is thrown around a lot in our celebrity-obsessed age, but it's actually a rare quality. If you want to see some, get a load of Catherine Deneuve at 70.
In the new film by Emmanuelle Bercot (who made 2012's relentlessly grim child protection unit procedural Polisse), the divine Miss D plays Bettie, who owns a struggling bistro in rural Brittany. She's a long-time widow who lives with her carping mother, and her boyfriend has just ditched her for a newer model.
When a lunch service goes sour, she goes out the back door looking for a cigarette, but her parting "I'll be back" turns out to be an exaggeration. Her search morphs, with surprising plausibility, into a road trip, with a sharp detour at the mid-point when she gets an unexpected call from her estranged daughter (pop star Camille), and her 11-year-old grandson Charly (Schiffman) enters the equation.
The raw material seems like the stuff of cliche but the two actors, who generate real chemistry, make it special: the second half may verge on the formulaic but there's a real warmth to the characters.
Deneuve, who is in every scene and almost every shot, is at her best in the film's first half, which consists of a series of stand-alone episodes, some involving non-actors: a one-night stand; a confessional exchange with a security guard who shelters her from the rain; a scene in which an arthritic old farmer rolls her a longed-for cigarette.
Whether playing tipsy or impatient or lonely, she displays stunning subtlety, communicating more with a glance than most do with a big speech. Watch for her expression when an admirer tells her she must once have been beautiful.
The film reveals Bettie's back story only slowly and once we know it, the ending may seem a bit glib.
But the film is in essence a meditation on ageing gracefully and a celebration of one seriously classy actress. Watching her inhabit and flesh out her character is a real pleasure.
Cast:
Catherine Deneuve, Nemo Schiffman, Gerard Garouste, Camille
Director:
Emmanuelle Bercot
Running time:
113 mins
Rating:
M (violence, sexual references, offensive language) In French with English subtitles
Verdict:
Road movie with a certain je ne sais quoi
- TimeOut