«La Villa», a little masterpiece

Cinema Wednesdays - Jonas Follonier

«Why did you come?
- The doctor said we had to.
- You came just for that?
- Yeah.»

This is the first line of La Villa, A film about brothers and sisters in their sixties, who join their father, who has suffered a stroke, in a cove near Marseille. A film about family, then, but also about the passage of time and how to remain faithful to family ideals of the common good and altruism in today's capitalist society.

These questions may seem banal, and this is not the first time Robert Guédiguian has dealt with them in his films. However, La Villa has the merit of tackling these issues with finesse and thrift, all in lyrical colors and situations. As for the actors, they are excellence itself: Ariane Ascaride in her sadness, Jean-Pierre Darroussin in his natural cynicism, Anaïs Demoustier in her beauty, Gérard Meylan in his humanity.

Through spare dialogue and meaningful scenes, the director succeeds in introducing two other deeply captivating themes into his twentieth feature film. On the one hand, love, present in its various forms: that of a son for his parents, the passionate love of a young man for a rather elderly actress, that of a retired teacher for one of his pupils. On the other hand, the question of refugees, which places this eternal film in the light of current events.

If this component perhaps accentuates the film's committed dimension a little too much, La Villa can be appreciated for its extreme finesse. It's a French drama as we like them, set in a different environment from that of the capital. Between melancholy and tasteful humor, the most sensitive viewers will undoubtedly let out a little tear, from a salt smelling sea and family secrets.

Write to the author : jonas.follonier@leregardlibre.com

Photo credit: © Art Juice