Potiche

Potiche (The Trophy Wife)-Bring Your Mum

Directed by Francois Ozon

Starring Catherine Deneuve, Gerard Depardieu, Fabrice Luchini

 

Young gentlemen of Perth, have you been meaning to take your mother out for a nice lunch and pay her the attention she so richly deserves. Have you been thinking her kind hearted ways of consummation, delivery and decades of painful tutelage entitle her to a day-out with her self loathing, slightly intellectual and melancholy son? Well this is your moment to treat that woman to a small portion of what she not only deserves but what she is entitled to. That is a rare French farce concerning female political liberation, enchanting seventies soundtracks and watching Gerard Depardieu do the wild thing in a rural French provincial nightclub.

Potiche is a little charmer of a film. This is no A Pure Formality (1994) or Cyrano de Bergerac (1990). This is a film version of a stage play that at times appears like a pantomime. The seventies setting renders the unusual film a bit like a porno without the sex scenes until of course we are greeted with sex scenes in the form of a flashback of a young Gerard and Catherine Deneuve playing the cardboard cut out characters of the wealthy besotted Mayor and the even wealthier housewife to the insane and determinedly capitalistic factory owner, Luchini. From the opening it appears as it will be nothing more than a door slammer and landing crosser film, which will do little than bore the audience to small French tears. However it leaves the genre heavy introduction of the film and takes us into the plot which we care only slightly about. But caring slightly, is enough to take us through the rest of this little and intriguing picture.

It has suggestions of Clue (1985) in that although it's entertaining it never ever draws you in emotionally as the characters never appear genuine. We are watching high French soap comedy, with legendary actors in every role. Gerard Dep' looks like the largest man alive. And again if you are the aforementioned young man taking your mother out for an afternoon, you will be pleased that your mother will, at the very least, be more concerned for Gerard's health than yours. He looks like a man mountain who is in desperate need of a slow starting treadmill and a creative wig master. He also happens to be brilliant in every scene. A highlight which includes taking Travolta in Pulp Fiction at least half way to the cleaners.

There really isn't much to say about this little gem. Be careful what you expect because it isn't much more than a beautifully executed set design, wonderful costuming and again, some brilliant acting. A criticism may be, would it not be better to take actors of this caliber and production values of this expense and make something truly powerful and meaningful with the same resources. However it is what it is. And for what it is, it is enjoyable. It is by no means brilliant, but it is also by no means awful. It simply is what it is. A colourful, light, velveteen pantomime and another reason to wish the great, over weight Gerard, was in more scenes. Happy mothers day in advance.