3 Romantic Comedies (French Film Fest, pt 3)

The romantic comedy is perhaps the most tightly codified genre out there. The degree with which people engage with a particular romcom depends almost entirely on how much the script sticks to formula.

Usually it goes something like this.

1. Two leads, each of them flawed in some way, with heaps of charming quirks.
2. At first glance, they are polar opposites. They dislike each other, but ignore the banter and look into their eyes and you just know they're hot for each other.
3. Circumstance brings these two together...
4. ...but a misunderstanding or an external force drives them apart!
5. Family, friends, sports or food get involved...
6. ...leading to a few revelations;
   
7. They realize the other is what their life was really missing all along!
   
8. They fall in love and live happily ever after.

Of course people won't rush to see a romcom unless there's a novelty spin on the usual format: she's really a he, he's the president of the USA, she's engaged to someone else, he's from the wrong side of the tracks, etc.

Romantic comedies are often guilty pleasures, or at least comfort films, including for the most discerning film critics. The truth is that most of us are romantics at heart, and we'll sit through endless numbers of screen romances in case we stumble upon The One.

Foreign romcoms are particularly great for two reasons: they're easier to justify ("I am not a target market: I'm watching Sophisticated Foreign Cinema"), and the formula feels less obvious, hidden behind all these nifty cultural differences.

Miramax used to take those quirky foreign romcoms and remake them for us into bland and harmless American numbers. Then came British Working Title romcoms, which managed to outdo Hollywood in the formulaic romance department, in a language we could (mostly) understand.

For some, the Hollywood ship has sailed (or rather sunk after hitting an iceberg). If good romcoms need to come from the heart, then we need more lovestruck marketing execs! As Tinseltown looks to big male stars to rescue the genre for the Jackass crowd, we are more and more inclined to look across the Atlantic for our fix. From Avenue Montaigne to Paris Je T'Aime to Priceless, France seems on a mission to win our hearts this year (and after the success of Amelie, our wallets too).

Here are three French romantic comedies, playing throughout Australia at the upcoming French Film Festival, which play with the formula with varying degree of success.


You Are So Beautiful (Je Vous Trouve Très Beau)

A romcom disquised as... a fish-out-of-the-water comedy, Je Vous Trouve Très Beau was a huge hit in France this year. Choosing a short, middle-aged bald guy to play the lead may not seem like a sure-fire winner at first, but factor in the popularity of veteran French actor Michel Blanc and it won't matter that Hugh Grant wasn't available in the end...

Bitter middle-aged farmer Aymé finds himself in a fix when his wife dies in a freak cow milking accident: who will cook his dinner, wash his clothes and feed the hens? Our pragmatic protagonist seizes on the possibilities afforded by EU enlargement to shop for a bride in Bucharest. He's not looking to expand his cultural horizons or fall in love, he wants a woman to provide cheap labour without speaking a word of French.

From this offensive premise Isabelle Mergault crafts an old-fashioned romantic comedy for the older, conservative moviegoer. No points for guessing that Aymé eventually finds love and expands his horizons, but not before endless montage sequences of his new wife falling for her rich master while slaving away in the farm...

Je Vous Trouve Très Beau hides its mysoginy and spite for France's rural population behind unfunny comedy and cringe-worthy scenes of culture shock. Shot like a TV movie-of-the-week, this ugly piece of work is simply incapable of engaging with the visual possibilities of the medium. Refusing to challenge outdated views on gender roles or economic migration enables it to seduce a conservative audience mostly ignored by French filmmakers. It's a steep price to pay for audience development and makes for a rather unpleasant brand of cinema.

You Are So Beautiful (Je Vous Trouve Très Beau) plays throughout Australia as part of the French Film Festival from March 7th.


Bad Faith (Mauvaise Foi)

A romcom disguised as... a multicultural relationship drama, Mauvaise Foi is the directorial debut from acclaimed French actor Roshdy Zem, who also plays the lead.

High concept romcoms are usually able to fit their plot in a single sentence, and Bad Faith is no exception. A quick look at the poster and you may be forgiven for thinking you already know enough to skip the screening. "She's a Jew, he's an Arab, they're expecting a baby... No worries." ...says the tagline, though of course the romcom enthusiasts knows better...

Don't be too quick to judge a film by its poster. Despite its schematic marketing, Roshy Zem's debut is actually worth the price of admission. The formula is firmly adhered to and the story's final destination is known all along, it's the surprises along the way which bring a smile to our faces.

Ismaël (Roshdy Zem) and Clara (Cécile de France) are moving in together and having a baby. They're a solid couple, about to make things official to their respective parents. Here's when things start to get complicated. For the first time in their relationship, their differences in culture and religion become a factor. It's not just parents who disapprove or friends who tease (Zem stays well away from caricatures), it's their own respective yearning for cultural and religious identity. The onset of parenthood and the choices and responsibilities of adulthood awaken a need to understand and come to terms with their heritage.

The characters in Mauvaise Foi are entirely believable precisely because they question their own beliefs. There is no simplistic juxtaposition of secular and religious, tolerant and fanatic, progressive and old-fashioned, but rather a subtle debate between moderate open-minded people who nonetheless struggle with their own prejudices.

Although there's a fair amount of comedy, Mauvaise Foi is closer in spirit to Ken Loach's Ae Fond Kiss. It's a smart film which tackles head on some of France's burning issues of the day, including the need to reconcile republican values of secularism and the impossibility to deny our cultural differences. The questions asked by Clara and Ismaël are difficult, probing ones, and they don't come with simple answers. This is good news, for beyond romance and comedy, there is insight to be gained by the viewer, whatever his or her heritage.

For all its serious intentions, the film remains light on its feet, full of warm characters and funny dialogue. A semi-biographical tale (Roshdy Zem is a non-prectising Muslim, his wife is of Jewish origin), Mauvaise Foi wins us over not through its originality (rare is the romcom...) but thanks to its unwavering honesty.

Bad Faith (Mauvaise Foi) plays the French Film Festival throughout Australia from March 7th.



Hey Good Looking! (Comme T'y Es Belle)

A romcom disquised as... an ensemble comedy, Comme T'y Es Belle feels like a Sex & The City episode transposed to Paris's Jewish community. It can also be understood as a slightly more sophisticated female equivalent to huge Gallic hit La vérité si je mens (Could I lie to you?).

Four thirtysomething Sephardi Jewish women attempt to balance work, children and romance amidst the hustle-bustle of the multicultural French capital. This sitcomish set-up allows writer-director Lisa Azuelos to orchestrate four mini-romcoms. In their respective stories, the female protagonists find love, and through it self-actualization, a doorway into adulthood, an exit from a bad marriage or newfound self-respect.

These stories aren't particularly interesting, though the actors' work is mostly convincing (especially Michelle Laroque and Valérie Benguigui). Some of the romantic interludes, particularly a few cheesy musical montage sequences, are borderline laughable.

What does impress however is how vividly this Parisian sub-culture had been brought to life, complete with its own brand of slang, mannerisms and colloquialisms (many are lost in translation for the English-subtitle readers though).

Some situations are a little over-the-top, such as a sub-plot which sees a middle-aged straight Jewish woman enter into civil partnership with her young Arabic maid (also straight) to save her from being deported. But overall the interactions between cultures are sensibly portrayed, and the film doesn't hesitate to shed its comic touch to tackle more serious themes of migration, identity and gender equality.

Hey Good Looking! (Comme T'y Es Belle) plays at the French Film Festival from March 7th, before an Australian release April 5th.


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3 Romantic Comedies (French Film Fest, pt 3)