Reviews

I enjoyed Chomet's TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE, but have to say that I was in the minority with his follow-up THE ILLUSIONIST, in that I was slightly disappointed. This film is similar, so I guess I won't be putting myself into the fan camp for this director.

That being said, there was still plenty of charm, wit, romance and humour in this take on how we are shaped by our memories. I did enjoy it but, on reflection, I think I was just continuously being reminded of better French quirkiness like AMELIE. This one just felt a little too.........random? (But it was at least much better than the dire MOOD INDIGO)

A few years ago, I saw a movie called THE September ISSUE. It was an interesting profile of a woman (Anna Wintour) in a world (fashion) that I generally have no interest in. It succeeded because it gave you insight into the person, made you empathise with (or at least understand) her, and taught you things that you are generally glad you now know. Just like a good documentary should.

Unfortunately, MADEMOISELLE C is no September. It is more of a guilty pleasure for people who like the fashion scene. I got no real insight into the main character (just a sense of hero worship), and got either bored or amused by the overindulgence in the on-site shoot scenes.

As alluded to before, a good documentary should either say something or take you into a world you are not familiar with (preferably both). This movie is no more than a reality television episode.

One of my biggest gripes of the popular annual French Film Festival here in Australia is that the audience is often made up of the types of people who pride themselves on not being caught dead at a mainstream Hollywood film in a shopping complex cinema, and yet they laugh hysterically at comedies that are more poorly written than most Adam Sandler comedies! This one is another case in point. There is no focus on character - every time there is a hint of character development, the director cuts to another lame-joke scene so as not to dwell on anything real. The jokes and scenarios come straight out of the types of films Hollywood made back in the 80s, with similar base concepts ("man becomes housewife" or "teenager becomes werewolf" is simply replaced with "women become wrestlers"). I am no wrestling fan, but I wouldn't be surprised if female wrestlers are actually slightly offended by the way they are depicted here. One to miss.