«One man's happiness is another man's misfortune

Cinema Wednesdays - Fanny Agostino

The axiom is reversed, but everyone will recognize the proverb. Desperately logical and full of distressing clichés, Daniel Cohen's film is as expected and demonstrative as its title.. In this comedy, where the success of a woman's first novel fuels the jealousy of those closest to her, everything is about aposiopesis.

The exception does not make the rule. The film merely confirms that, in France in recent years, it has been impossible to to produce comedies without wallowing in the depressing. Léa (Bérénice Béjo) leads a peaceful life: she works at the Beaugrenelle shopping center, located in the 15th^th district. This detail really comes into its own in the film, as this temple of consumerism is featured in the film’s most visually striking scenes: tracking shots, low-angle shots, mirror effects… even the billboards are repurposed for product placement.

Leaving that outdated postcard behind, we find ourselves at a dinner party in Paris with two couples: on one side, Léa (Bérénice Béjo) and Marc (Vincent Cassel); on the other, Karine (Florence Foresti) and Francis (François Damiens). There, Léa reveals that she has started writing a novel. Shock and disbelief! No one understands this sudden artistic impulse. Yet it fits perfectly with the activities of these bobos Parisians do this for two reasons: to stave off everyday boredom and to impress others.

The Cult of Success

It is precisely this last paradigm that underlies the entire story. Social recognition and the display of happiness and personal fulfillment are at the heart of what disrupts the protagonists’ world. Karine and Francis lead fulfilling lives—that is, they have children and enjoy a comfortable social and professional standing. Léa thus disrupts their comfortable, dominant existence through art—a realm in which the couple has yet to make their mark. The two actors are given tailor-made roles as they move from one scene to the next in the form of sketches. Predictable and repetitive, these domestic spats are so full of nonsense that, by the end, you find yourself wearily hoping the next gag will be less silly than the one before it.

Léa, therefore, represents the antithesis of this competitive race. A clothing saleswoman, she likes to sit on the sofas at the mall and «watch people.» Armed with her notebook and pen, she knows how to «capture people’s inner lives»—a talent she puts to good use in her job. Free of vice or jealousy, Léa is unassuming. She is considerate of others, endowed with such gullibility that one sometimes feels like siding with her tormentors. These traits are ones the film strives to link to the practice of writing. The writer is a cliché: he observes, likes to keep his distance from the world, and works in secret. Yet this archetype is far from prevailing in the film.

The Triumph of Capitalism

Of course, this is a comedy. I can see where you’re going with this: we’re not in the context of an analysis where a social commentary would have been more appropriate. It seems to me, however, that comedy is undeniably a medium for revealing society. Indeed, it plays on clichés, stereotypes, and thus on our preconceptions. However, its portrayal of these must be capable of being transcended.

It’s just the opposite here. The film just pushes its characters further and further into caricature, to the point of making you want to throw up. Take Marc, for example—the redneck, pain-in-the-ass husband. An executive at an aluminum company, he can’t stand his wife’s new job or the way she makes decisions based on what others think. He fights to maintain his dominant position in the relationship, but everything is falling apart: his wife’s best-selling book, the threat of a new, foreign-trained employee eyeing the promotion that was meant for him. Fortunately, he still has his secretary… Even more distressing, he’s self-conscious about his image. He recognizes himself in one of the characters in his wife’s novel.

Without giving away the ending, the film will nevertheless declare him the winner. As for Léa, she will become a machine for writing bestsellers. She’ll be able to enjoy her new apartment, with its high ceilings and moldings, to reinforce her new social standing, without causing a stir.

Write to the author: fanny.agostino@leregardlibre.com

Photo credit: © Praesens Film