Dir. François Ozon, France, 2010, 103 mins, in French with subtitles
Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Gerard Depardieu, Fabrice Luchini
Review by Carol Allen
Deneuve is Suzanne, the Potiche of François Ozon’s film – potiche being a French word meaning a decorative object of no practical use – or in this case a trophy wife. The film is adapted from a play which was written in the seventies and, while giving it a subtly contemporary resonance, Ozon has decided to set it in its original period, as to update it to today would have meant losing a lot of the point and the charm of the story.
Suzanne is the wife of Robert Pujol (Luchini), director of an umbrella factory in a small provincial town – an asset he acquired on marriage from Suzanne’s father. He’s an old fashioned MCP, who regards his wife as a decorative chattel. He also has a dinosaur’s attitude to industrial relations, as a result of which his workers are about to go out on strike. After he is taken hostage by his angry workers, Suzanne, with the help of the local Communist Mayor and MP, Maurice Babin (Depardieu), with whom she had a brief fling in their youth, negotiates Robert’s release and steps in to run the factory while he goes off on a recuperative cruise. And a great success she makes of it. But things get complicated when Robert returns and wants to take back the reins of command.
This piece is frothy, fun and very French and a delightful and very funny period take on seventies feminism. Deneuve looks as though she’s having a ball, playing the role with a wicked sense of humour and not taking herself too seriously, as in the delightful opening sequence, where we see her jogging sedately through the countryside and appreciating nature in a mock Disney fashion. Depardieu is a perfect foil for her with his own solid, down to earth charm. The late life romance that develops between them is heart warming but never sentimental, and in fact very pragmatically Gallic, when Suzanne decides to reveal certain details to him about her past, and the sight of the two of them disco dancing at a nightclub is a bit of a blast.
Luchini gives the role of the husband a humanity and vulnerability which makes him less of a monster than he might otherwise be and there’s good support from Karin Viard as Robert’s secretary cum mistress, who comes over to Susanne’s side; Judith Godrèche as Suzanne’s somewhat right wing and selfish daughter; and Jérémie Renier as her artistically inclined son, who comes up with a cute line in colourful umbrellas that could have come straight from Cherbourg.
The whole film is visually very colourful in a boiled sweet sort of way, which fits the “Seventies but still in the Sixties” look of the film perfectly and, whereas in Eight Women Ozon not only over indulged his passion for older actresses but also for allowing his characters to break into song, here he uses just the right amount of integrated musical numbers as an amusing, discreetly handled element without losing the film’s comic reality.
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