Little White Lies (2010)
(Les petits mouchoirs)
Country: FR/BEL
Technical: col/2.35:1 154m
Director: Guillaume Canet
Cast: François Cluzet, Marion Cotillard, Benoît Magimel, Jean Dujardin, Gilles Lellouche, Laurent Lafitte, Pascale Arbillot, Valérie Bonneton
Synopsis:
A group of friends seems to bond ever closer when one of their number is seriously injured in a road accident, but they do not cancel their annual holiday in the Landes. Over the following weeks, a number of personal issues rise to the surface.
Review:
Ensemble piece in the style of The Big Chill (1983) or Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train (1998), except that the funeral takes place at the end. The French love this kind of relationship piece - Les marmottes (1993) is another one - in which old friends gather and drink, break up and get back together, fault lines re-soldered by tragedy. Canet marshals his cast and resources well, though how it cost 15 million euros heaven only knows, and a sequel, Nous finirons ensemble, followed in 2019, testament to the format's success. To be critical, however, at two and a half hours it is somewhat flabby, with an over-stocked playlist and some scenes which just don't need to be there; in the end we still do not know the characters all that well, but have enjoyed being in the company of actors on holiday, and the finale feels tacked on. (Language note: the 'fouines' about which Cluzet's character gets so uptight, are rendered as 'ferrets' by the subtitles, but are in fact stone martens, another coincidence with Les marmottes!)
(Les petits mouchoirs)
Country: FR/BEL
Technical: col/2.35:1 154m
Director: Guillaume Canet
Cast: François Cluzet, Marion Cotillard, Benoît Magimel, Jean Dujardin, Gilles Lellouche, Laurent Lafitte, Pascale Arbillot, Valérie Bonneton
Synopsis:
A group of friends seems to bond ever closer when one of their number is seriously injured in a road accident, but they do not cancel their annual holiday in the Landes. Over the following weeks, a number of personal issues rise to the surface.
Review:
Ensemble piece in the style of The Big Chill (1983) or Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train (1998), except that the funeral takes place at the end. The French love this kind of relationship piece - Les marmottes (1993) is another one - in which old friends gather and drink, break up and get back together, fault lines re-soldered by tragedy. Canet marshals his cast and resources well, though how it cost 15 million euros heaven only knows, and a sequel, Nous finirons ensemble, followed in 2019, testament to the format's success. To be critical, however, at two and a half hours it is somewhat flabby, with an over-stocked playlist and some scenes which just don't need to be there; in the end we still do not know the characters all that well, but have enjoyed being in the company of actors on holiday, and the finale feels tacked on. (Language note: the 'fouines' about which Cluzet's character gets so uptight, are rendered as 'ferrets' by the subtitles, but are in fact stone martens, another coincidence with Les marmottes!)
(Les petits mouchoirs)
Country: FR/BEL
Technical: col/2.35:1 154m
Director: Guillaume Canet
Cast: François Cluzet, Marion Cotillard, Benoît Magimel, Jean Dujardin, Gilles Lellouche, Laurent Lafitte, Pascale Arbillot, Valérie Bonneton
Synopsis:
A group of friends seems to bond ever closer when one of their number is seriously injured in a road accident, but they do not cancel their annual holiday in the Landes. Over the following weeks, a number of personal issues rise to the surface.
Review:
Ensemble piece in the style of The Big Chill (1983) or Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train (1998), except that the funeral takes place at the end. The French love this kind of relationship piece - Les marmottes (1993) is another one - in which old friends gather and drink, break up and get back together, fault lines re-soldered by tragedy. Canet marshals his cast and resources well, though how it cost 15 million euros heaven only knows, and a sequel, Nous finirons ensemble, followed in 2019, testament to the format's success. To be critical, however, at two and a half hours it is somewhat flabby, with an over-stocked playlist and some scenes which just don't need to be there; in the end we still do not know the characters all that well, but have enjoyed being in the company of actors on holiday, and the finale feels tacked on. (Language note: the 'fouines' about which Cluzet's character gets so uptight, are rendered as 'ferrets' by the subtitles, but are in fact stone martens, another coincidence with Les marmottes!)