Bancs publics (Versailles rive droite)

This movie plodded along listlessly with no particular message. Finally, I could take it no more. I mercifully killed it, gave it one star on Netflix and moved on to other things.

It started well enough. Had it just stuck to that theme, you might have been able to salvage some of it. You don't throw Catherine Deneveux into a movie unless it is a serious movie. The scenes were way too long, there were too many characters, and you could not really identify with any of them. Frankly, it was no different from taking your camera to your office and filming your colleagues in various states of mischief and trying to pass it on as a serious movie.

After having seen the cast and read a preview I was convinced it would be a good movie. Generally this is exactly the type of movie I like. A movie about the interactions of regular people in a neighbourhood. No special plot, just a poetic observation of life in a limited space.

Unfortunately the film was a total disappointment. It felt like a juxtaposition of stories which never allow the audience empathise with the characters.

The most engaging scene was the one in the park with an interesting alternation of the camera between different people. The viewer felt part of the scene as a common bystander sat on a bench, observing each different group, each different scene. The director should have developed this part as the film title lead to believe instead of letting the scene at the hardware store drag on.

In the end I wonder why so many great French actors agreed to collaborate on this film.