Structurally divided between “circumstances” and “consequences”, this film hinges on a rash and surprising course of action taken by Jeanne (Émilie Dequenne), an impressionable and rather silly young Parisian woman who has a tendency to tell little white lies. The opening half of the film splices together scenes from the lives of two different families. Firstly, there is Jeanne, her concerned mother Louise (Catherine Deneuve), and a new boyfriend in Franck (Nicolas Duvauchelle). Meanwhile, across the city, a wealthy Jewish family is still suffering the fallout from a difficult marital break-up between the infantile and petulant Alex (Mathieu Demy) and the coldly maternal Judith (Ronit Elkabetz).
While there is a link between the two families – Alex’s father Samuel (Michel Blanc) once held a torch for Louise and is now looking to employ a secretary in his legal firm – the interaction between them is initially kept to a teasing minimum. Moreover, the growing love affair between Franck and Jeanne is kept fascinatingly tense, from a memorably portrayed online exchange to his occasional mood shifts and ambiguous behaviour. Indeed, this is quite an attention-grabbing performance from Mr. Duvauchelle, who easily exudes both menace and vulnerability here. Unfortunately, though, the second half of the film then takes a more conventional turn and this shift of pace and tone ends up causing things to go a little flat.
Nevertheless, the central preoccupation with maturity and how its attainment does not apply to everyone in uniform fashion is an interesting one. More specifically, Jeanne, Franck, and Alex all have some real growing up to do. In one scene, Franck tries to impress Louise by presenting himself as being a brashly confident man of the world. Her subsequent caution to Jeanne may fall on deaf ears, but the older woman also seems to recognise that her daughter may need to make her own mistakes here. Indeed, after overcoming some initial hesitation, the manner in which Michel and Louise can talk about their own relationship now stands in complete contrast to Franck’s insecurity and Jeanne’s naivety. Equally, in one of the best moments in the film, Alex’s barely adolescent son Nathan (Jérémie Quaegebeur) displays an uncanny degree of self-awareness and understanding of adult relationships – two things that are still eluding his middle-aged father.
There are also political dimensions to this film – some of which director André Téchiné gently swirls into the plot and some that he hammers in at seeming right-angles to the main narrative. At the same time, Mr. Téchiné does maintain a good deal of ambiguity in all of his themes, so that the audience can reach their own conclusions on everything that they have just seen.
Thanks in part to some fine editing from Martine Giordano and some equally good work from cinematographer Julien Hirsch (in particular, there is one fabulously lit boat scene late on), Paris is presented here in bright, colorful terms, on the one hand, and as a vast, noisy, impersonal city on the other. Watching Jeanne struggle to make those final steps into adulthood and realise that her suburban cocoon can no longer shelter her from the consequences of her actions is fascinating against this backdrop. In other words, as she skates away at the end, it is into a world that is both full of rich promise and harsh realities. A simple and nicely enjoyable work, on the whole.
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