Nobody quite makes comedies the way the French do. While Hollywood makes pointless comedies that rarely raise a smile amongst their audience, the French can make a comedy like Potiche, a comedy that is not only guaranteed to have you laughing… but one that also makes a valuable point about society.
Suzanne Pujol (Catherine Deneuve – Les Yeux De Sa Mere, The Big Picture) is little more than a trophy wife to her husband, Robert (Fabrice Luchini – Les Femmes Du 6eme Etage, Les Invites de Mon Pere). While Robert runs Suzanne’s family’s umbrella factory with an iron fist he completely forgets about his wife. He even manages to forget her birthday while he puts all his attention on his mistress, his receptionist, Nadege (Karin Viard – Nothing To Declare, Les Invites De Mon Pere). However, when striking workers take over the factory and kidnap Robert things change. He is seriously ill afterwards and Suzanne is left to run the factory with the help of her ex-lover, Maurice Babin (Gerard Depardieu – Je N’ai Rien Oublie, My Afternoons With Margueritte), her (seemingly trophy wife herself) daughter, Joelle (Judith Godreche – Holiday, Toutes Les Filles Pleurent) and her artistic son, Laurent (Jeremie Renier – Piece Montee, Demain des l’aube’). And while the workers all love her, what will happen when Robert is ready to come back to work.
Potiche is almost the perfect comedy, as the humor of the film never gets in the way of other important things such as characterization or storyline. Director, Francois Ozon (The Refuge, Ricky) really does know how to put together a film. The characters are certainly all well-rounded and the storyline is enough to totally involve you. You instantly despise Robert and you barrack for Suzanne as she attempts to take over the business. Such is your hatred for Robert that you don’t even mind when you discover that Suzanne had an affair with Maurice. In fact as an audience you soon find yourself hoping that Maurice and Suzanne get back together. Even the sideline characters of Joelle, Laurent and Nadege are never annoying… the former even manages to steal some of the comedy limelight.
Acting wise Potiche is full of amazing performances. As you would expect Catherine Denevue and Gerard Depardieu lead the way brilliantly. Devevue is exceptional, she keeps getting more beautiful with age and has the acting ability to back it up. If this had been an American film people would have been talking about an Oscar for her for this role. She is well supported by Depardieu (who maybe getting larger) who once again puts in a fine effort. Also worth mentioning is Jeremie Renier who plays the A-sexual, Laurent. He puts in the right mix of comedy and drama to his role, and is certainly an actor worth watching in the future.
Potiche is the kind of movie that will become a favorite for lovers of French films. The film proves that a well-rounded comedy with a great storyline will always outclass a lame comedy with sex and fart jokes. Well delivered, the humor of Potiche doesn’t get in the way of it delivering a powerful message about woman’s right. One of the finest French comedies of the year.
Year: 2010
Director: Francois Ozon
Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Fabrice Luchini, Karin Viard, Gerard Depardieu, Judith Godreche, Jeremie Renier
Classification: M
Runtime: 103 mins
Rating: 