Mademoiselle

A married saleswoman misses her transportation and tags along with a troupe of improvisational comedians. I would watch Sandrine Bonnaire reading from the phone book, and it's a pleasure to watch her here, but I left the theatre thinking "So what?". I found the lead male character completely uninteresting, and I could not understand what she would see in him. The whole film leads to their affair, but I didn't find it at all believable. The best I can say about this film is that I did not dislike it.

I was able to see this film twice many years ago at a French Film Festival here in Manila and I feel I have to stand up for this film.

Admittedly the film is ultimately slight, neither very dramatic or romantic. It does not engage its audience in any profound way. Nor does it have any deep insights.

However, my lasting impression of "Mademoiselle" is its sense of overwhelming sadness, a feeling that you are living through something very special, an experience that will soon pass out of your life and that you will never regain. This sense is highlighted by the two scenes that bookend the film, which show Claire (Sandrine Bonnaire) in her car looking at the show poster, and then at the end driving away.

The specific scene from the film that I have never forgotten is a brief one in which Claire and her would-be lover Pierre (Jacques Gamblin) take a ride across the city on a borrowed motorcycle. One reviewer has commented that Sandrine Bonnaire's face reflects happiness very well and this quality is well used in this scene where she communicates her sheer joy at being in love and alive at that particular moment. Many of the specific details of the movie have already faded from my memory but I still remember that scene even after all these years.

In relation to this, I also remember a brief scene near the end when the counter girl calls Claire "mademoiselle" (miss), an indicator of how her one-night romance has brought her joy and, if only fleetingly, restored her youthfulness.

If only for this sense of sadness, Mademoiselle remains one of my fondness movie-going memories and one of my favorite romantic movies. It is a reminder of how transient moments of true magic are in our lives when weighted against the mundane routine of "real life".

Filled with subtlety, nuance, great writing, and acting, this film explores the myriad of events, twists, and turns that bring two people together. Accidents and coincidences flow seamlessly, which is the fun of this film. It also comments on loneliness, being stuck in your ways, and how to apply spontaneity to ease boredom.

This film holds up a mirror to life, simply reflecting it, and letting the audience see what they may. It's also a 'non-romantic' romance, which is what may have bothered the last critic in the acting style of the lead man. He's not overtly romantic, but he's very handsome and funny enough to catch the eye of Sandrine, the lead actress, in an impulsive moment. The scenes take place in parking lots, driveways, a cheap hotel and restaurant. But this is the mundane reality of many peoples lives so it is believable.

It's a pleasant little film, but not terribly exciting. I kept watching it however because of Claire ( Sandrine Bonnaire). She has a lovely face that exudes happiness. Hers is one of the few happy faces in the film. And just listen to her laugh. It's beautiful.

She leads a comfortable life but an uninspiring one until she meets a writer who also does some acting with "The Impromptu Group", a small band of actors who provide lively entertainment of a rather unusual nature at functions such as weddings receptions. I was quite taken in by the commotion at the cocktail party where casual staff were dismissed on the spot because of misbehaviour. The stage presentation which follows later and where the truth of the matter is revealed falls rather flat in my opinion. I couldn't raise a laugh despite the general applause.

The script has a few weaknesses. When Claire meets a stranger Pierre (Jacques Gambin) in a pharmacy, she admits she knows very little about the variety of shaving creams e.g. standard, gel etc. Yet she is appointed to a responsible position as sales representative for pharmaceuticals in the SW district of France. Obviously she needs to brush up on her own promotional literature.

This stranger who happens to be a writer of plays shows little emotion as he falls in love with Claire. I am not sure what Claire sees in this rather inert character who seems to have a perpetual chip on his shoulder. Claire seems to be fascinated by the ease with which he improvises and creates dramatic situations through insinuation and false gossip. Undoubtedly Claire's past life has lacked a lot of excitement.

The story is told in a single flash-back. Claire , a married woman with two children ponders over her unexpected meeting with Pierre when she discovers his play is being presented at a theatre in Toulouse. Her one night fling with this married man reminds me in some small way with Noel Coward's "Brief Encounter" a play which is uppermost in my mind after so many years. As for "Mademoiselle". I am afraid she will soon be forgotten.

I do think Lioret is one of the best contemporary French director.His three last works (from "Je Vais Bien Ne T'en Fais Pas" onward)are among the best French production of the first decade of the 21th century.

"Mademoiselle" ,his third effort ,is not,IMHO,in the same league ,but it does show its director would be a name to reckon with in the following years.

It's actually a long flashback,a process which was more used in the old cinema;it makes sense,for the principal,played by a wonderful Sandrine Bonnaire ,realizes that she has missed a lot by not following her true desires ("Toutes Nos Envies" is the title of Lioret's latest):not only she did not become a stage actress but she has also probably lost the man (Jacques Gamblin ,much better at ease in the intimate drama than he is in the thriller)of her lifetime.

So she remembers 24 precious hours of her life,when she met a group of comedians who acted as entertainers in weddings ,retirement parties. Humor is not absent and the scene of the petition is a great moment of fun.The "speeches" in the gardens of the bride's father's desirable mansion introduce a bizarre emotion .And the little lighthouse and Pierre's story predate another Lioret 's movie "L'Equipier" ,in which the heroes are lighthouse keepers.

Why this title? The word is used once in the whole movie ,but for the heroine,it means her salad days ,when everything was still possible.