«Amoureux de ma femme»: the fantasies of Daniel Auteuil and these gentlemen

Cinema Wednesdays - Loris S. Musumeci

«I want to laugh, travel, fuck.»

Daniel (Daniel Auteuil) leaves his publishing house. He walks briskly and purposefully, files under his arm. Around the corner, he meets Patrick (Gérard Depardieu), his old friend. «We need to have dinner,» says Patrick. Delighted, Daniel even offers to come to the house on Saturday. Suddenly, he thinks of the reaction of his wife, Isabelle (Sandrine Kiberlain), when he tells her the news: catastrophe. Patrick has left Laurence, Isabelle's best friend, to take up with the young, sensual Emma (Adriana Ugarte), who probably doesn't look half his age.

Finally, between Daniel's clumsiness in trying to push back the date without conviction, and Patrick's insistence, the dinner is set for Saturday. Isabelle accepts after some rhetorical posturing on her husband's part. The big night arrives. Tense atmosphere. Patrick and Emma appear. Daniel is dazed. He's seduced by Emma like a teenager discovering love. And then he feels uneasy: not only is the age difference enormous, but the young woman is already in a relationship with Patrick. Dinner promises to be full of blunders and fantasies.

Critics have been extremely harsh with Daniel Auteuil, not only for his acting, but above all for his overall direction. Some of the criticisms are legitimate, while others are nothing more than crass, ideological bad faith on the part of critics who only accept humor if it reinforces their beliefs and pats them on the back. In short, In love with my wife can be blamed, but we can't vomit on him as so many journalists have done with relish.

The film, underneath the comedy genre, isn't hilarious, indeed. It's not even very funny, that goes without saying. And yet, like most French comedies today, it's still quite likeable and enjoyable. But that's a matter of taste, all right. You can appreciate Daniel's stammering in front of Emma, you can laugh at Daniel's frozen smile, and you can finally have the intelligence to understand the film's deliberate ridiculousness. But you may also find the character Daniel annoying, the film corny, and the comic devices - such as the camera locking the characters around the table in a tight shot, or the simple gestural comedy - too classic, even outdated.

On the other hand, to say that the film is misogynistic, sexist, and that Daniel Auteuil, «that old fart who thinks he can seduce a young woman at his age», is insulting to the character of Isabelle and to all women, is false! The critics who attack the film in this way simply don't get it. At no point are women portrayed in a degrading way. At no point does the film show Daniel as having any chance of seducing Emma. Even Patrick, in fact, never seduced her.

In love with my wife porte un message moral, déclarant un éloge des femmes et des épouses. Bien que celui-ci paraisse un peu trop visible et trop lourdement porté à l’écran, il faut croire que certains ne l’ont pas compris. Le film traite des phantasmes des hommes et leur stabilité quand ils vieillissent ; ils peuvent avoir à leur côté la plus belle femme du monde, qu’ils finissent par vivre une crise et s’imaginer le bonheur ailleurs, dans un retour à la jeunesse, avant de revenir à la réalité et l’aimer telle qu’elle est. Toutes les scènes de rêve ne sont pas pour rien caricaturales d’une jeunesse qui renaît  des cendres de la vieillesse. Et Daniel de s’imaginer en écrivain, chemise ouverte, à Venise, et susurrer à Emma : « Vous êtes mon bonheur, ma vie, ma jeunesse ». Entre nous, Messieurs, qui ne s’y retrouve pas ?

«I've been such a jerk.»

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Photo credit: © Praesens-Film