The Names of Love

Arthur Martin (Jacques Gamblin) is a reserved member of the Office of Epizootic Diseases. He has an interview on the radio. Left-wing opinionated Baya Benmahmoud (Sara Forestier) is taking calls for the station. She bursts in on the interview to complain. Martin's Jewish mother hid from the Nazis and changed her name. She was glad to marry Arthur's French father and take his name. Arthur isn't too happy with his name either which is the name of a popular cooker. Baya's father is Algerian. His family members were killed by the military. Baya's mother is a hippie from an upper class French family. She was happy to lose her name and gain an Arab name. Arthur's family represses their haunted history while Baya's family is boisterous and political. She was sexually molested by a neighbor as a child and is very sexually liberated as an adult. On the other hand, he's very repressed. She uses sex to convert 'fascists' to her politics. Despite being a socialist, he catches her eye and they become an odd pairing as she continues to try to convert 'fascists' from all sides.

Normally, I have difficulties with French comedies. It may be the cultural barrier or it may simply be reading the subtitles. There is something distancing about having to read a joke rather than have it performed. Sara Forestier is able to break through with her expressiveness. She is enchanting, sexy and magnetic. Jacques Gamblin also has a great deal of charm. His expressions are the perfect foil for her. They work brilliantly together. There are real big laughs in this and that is rare for me with foreign language verbal jokes. Physical humor is without borders but written jokes have a harder time crossing those borders. It's also a great romance. His support for her father is pure romanticism. This is a great unconventional rom-com.

Imagine your second name is Leclerc, which is also that of a famous hypermarket chain. Now imagine you have a friend who writes scripts whose first name is Baya, only 26 other people in France have in common with you. Nobody would spare you the question, «Leclerc, ... like the hypermarket?» while your friend couldn't escape «Baya, where does it originate from? Brazil?» whereas her roots are North African. Why not take these two peculiarities as a starting point for a romantic comedy that would deal with questions that matter to you: emigration, identity, the duty to remember, family secrets, taboos, politics?

Michel Leclerc thus becomes Arthur Martin, an Avian Flu expert, whose name immediately calls to mind a well known French cooker brand. And Baya will be Bahia Benmahmoud, an extrovert girl who makes a point of sleeping with as many right-wingers as possible to win them over to the leftist cause. And on they are for a very original, very deep film which, by trying to unite two such dissimilar people, successfully spans the history of France, from the 1930's until today . And a very funny one too (the two most irrepressible scenes being the catastrophic dinner with the in-laws and the crazy cameo of former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin). The direction is particularly inspired, creative and unconventional (the characters who address the camera, Jacques Boudet playing a student and a young soldier whereas he is in his seventies because Arthur can't imagine him young, Arthur's dialog with his dead grandparents). «Le nom des gens» has less to do with a standard French comedy than with such brilliant oddities as «Toto le Héros», «Crazy» or «Le premier jour du reste de ma vie», also with Jacques Gamblin, who is perfect here as the dull biologist slowly opening himself to real life. In the role of his wild, passionate but insecure guide on his way to love and life, Sara Forestier gives her best performance since «L'Esquive». Also to be noted are Zinedine Soualem as Bahia's sweet Algerian- born father, Carole Franck as his energetic militant wife, Jacques Boudet and Michèle Moretti as Arthur's parents. And of course Lionel Jospin, who displays a great sense of humor in his only scene. If you like inventive movies that make you both smile and think over, this one is for you.

It is the ultimate "opposites attract" love story. Arthur Martin is a perfectly ordinary (15207 other men in France share his name) shy, conservative late-middle aged single man working for the Government. He was raised by boring scientist technophiles who have consistently invested in great ideas that all turn out to be flops.

Baya Benmahmoud is a one of a kind (She is the only person in France named Baya Benmahmoud) young, beautiful, intelligent but scattered brained super-liberal activist raised by her hippy mother and illegal immigrant Algerian father. Her mission in life is to sleep with conservative "fascists" in order to turn them to the proper liberal ideal.

Baya finds Artur and launches her "make love not war" mission. She follows her proved method turning his world up-side-down. But this time, perhaps Baya has finally met her match. Everything changes for Baya when Arthur performs a kindness for her father that turns Baya's world up-side-down.

"If you can't trust the ducks, that is a bad sign."

The Names of Love is one of the most joyous and intelligent comedies I've seen in many years. It's playful, romantic, political, sexy, and filled with delicious performances! Sara Forestier is an absolute delight as Baya Benmahmoud, who takes the slogan "make love, not war" quite literally. She uses her intelligence and beauty to seduce bigots around her and entice them to change their ways. Jacques Gamblin is perfect as the much quieter Arthur Martin, who crosses paths with Raya and has never met anyone like her. The romance that ensues is hilarious and touching. The parents of both characters are also unforgettable characters. Poor Arthur's parents, for example, are always investing in the wrong technology: the Betamax instead of VHS, the laserdisc, a TV remote control with an extender that reaches across the room to change the channel....Rich, creative, playful in ways that remind us of the true joys possible in film!

What can I say, In a sea of substandard American movies and mediocre French ones, this movie stands out like a beacon of light, celebrating life's highs and lows in all its complexities. Very reminiscent and certainly worthy of Radu Mihaileanu's movies. It delves into subjects such as inherent racism, family identity problems and the Holocaust. Each character is flawed, but in very different ways that help build complexity into the plot, in the many ways it brings opposites together - sometimes in a positive way, sometimes not. Just wonderfully written, offbeat with subtle humor all the way through. An incredible thought provoking script, wonderful acting and brilliant casting. Watch it and enjoy.