I really had no idea what I was getting into when I sat to watch this, and I have to say, this comedy-drama carries itself with humor and storytelling that's far, far more dry than I could have guessed from the premise alone. That premise portends fraught interpersonal dynamics, and that's just what we get even from the start, but there's a sardonic air here that comes close to being outright bitter. Peppered with notes that are more conventionally wry, I can understand how this has not necessarily met with especially warm reception, for by any measure it's an oddball, almost seeming to carve out its own singular tone along the way. In fairness, levity and storytelling alike start to gel more as the runtime approaches the halfway point; they begin to take a form that's more familiar, and we see what 'Chouquette' is doing as the characters come together and form an unlikely, offbeat, adversarial sort of bond. There's earnest substance here - but the trouble is that's is rather hard to ever get a beat on what precisely the movie is trying to achieve, and the the tableau just comes off as a little too incohesive to have any major impact.
I think there are some really smart ideas in the writing, to the point that I'd be curious to read the novel this is based on, and Patrick Godard illustrates a practiced hand as director. The filming locations are lovely, and even more so when realized through the crisp, vivid eyes of cinematographer Lubomir Bakchev. I'm inclined to believe the cast is strongest of all in this case: Sabine Azéma, Michèle Laroque, even young Antonin Brunelle-Rémy; Michèle Moretti, in a smaller supporting part, is a minor joy. All around this is well made from a technical standpoint, and all on hand turn in fine work. Only - overall the picture is maybe a bit too low-key and restrained for its own good, extending to unifying themes and notions that are treated too meagerly, such that they never feel meaningful. I recognize the structure of an overarching vision to Emilie Frèche's novel, and to the screenplay of filmmaker Godard and co-writer Natalie Carter, but there's a difference between knowing a vision is present, and seeing or feeling it. I have a hard time seeing or feeling the vision of 'Chouquette.'
I actually do like this; ultimately one can discern the territory it's playing in, and I admire what the feature trying to do. I just don't find it to bear sufficient strength, as a whole, to make any significant impression. The value 'Chouquette' can claim only just barely keeps it floating above middling indiffrerence, and it would have benefited immensely from more robust comedy and/or drama to anchor engagement, and provide more flavor. Such as it is I think this earns a soft recommendation for a quiet day, but the fact remains that there are countless other titles that more specifically demand viewership, and there's no special reason to particularly look to this. Watch if you like, and hopefully you'll appreciate it at least as much or maybe more than I did, but don't go out of your way for it.
