Director: Pascal Bonitzer
Starring: Jean-Pierre Bacri, Kristin Scott Thomas, Isabelle Carré
Running Time: 100 Minutes
Certificate: 12A
Damien is a professor of Chinese civilization who promises his partner, Iva, to ask his father Sébastien, a state councilor, to intervene in favour of Zorica, an illegal immigrant. In theory, Sébastien Hauer is influential enough to keep Zorica from being expelled from France but his relationship with his son presents problems.
The film isn’t one of the best French language movies (if you’re looking for a good French movie- watch ENTRE LES MURS). The storyline is sadly not very engaging or exciting and by the end it’s all incredibly predictable- you easily guess whom the characters’ true identities are and what’s going to happen. The movie describes itself as a comedy but to be honest, it’s barely satirical. The situations aren’t funny, just unfortunate. You’ll cringe at the stupid decisions the characters make which, incidentally, you’ll see coming a mile off.
However, despite the poor plot, the actors should be commended, particularly Kristin Scott Thomas who performs brilliantly as Damien’s partner, Iva. There was hardly a trace of an English accent when she delivered her lines. A surprising star was Marin Orcand Tourrès, who plays Damien and Iva’s pre-teen son, Noe. So many child actors have the annoying tendency to overact- using their hands way too much to make a point and just generally bringing down the standard of acting. On the other hand, Tourres, portrays the moody pre-teen with conviction and he comes across as the most sane and rational character in the film.
LOOKING FOR HORTENSE does not explain itself well. I’d say it’s the language barrier but firstly, that shouldn’t prevent enjoyment of a film and secondly, there’s more complicated foreign language movies out there that come across as more engaging and have deeper storylines. As mentioned, the characters are pretty unlikeable, other than Noe and the film is just really bleak, which is probably meant to represent the sad lives of Iva, Damien and everyone around them.
It’s something to watch on a rainy day but sadly the actors are let down by the clandestine plot.
LOOKING FOR HORTENSE is out on DVD now.
