ANGÈLE AND TONY

Small Town Love
Directed by Alix Delaporte   
Starring Clotilde Hesme, Grégory Gadebois, Evelyne Didi, Jérôme Huguet

Personal ads of the ‘significant other’ variety aren’t too common around these parts and there are a few reasons for that. But if you live in a small fishing village in a place like Normandy, France, it might just work for you. Alix Delaporte’s debut feature film Angèle And Tony, definitely has something to say to the sceptics.

After serving time for mysterious circumstances relating to her husband’s death, Angèle (Clotilde Hesme) is on parole and is determined to put her life right. This means repairing her relationship with her son, getting a job, and finding a man. The latter two seem essential if she’s to prove her stability to the court and in-laws who have custody of her son. So naturally, she answers a relationship ad in the paper, and falls for the advertiser, small-town fisher-man, Tony (Grégory Gadebois).

The premise of this film isn’t overly complicated but it isn’t the French equivalent of queasy Hollywood chick flick either. Delaporte has written a script with clever quips and some unusually charming characters. The relationship between Angèle and Tony is as affecting as it is amusing - their oddities making for some startling moments that will certainly catch you off guard. I mean, how many mothers are prepared to screw a stranger in exchange for an Action Man gift for their son?

The cast on whole give convincing performances - Antoine Couleau who plays Yohan, Angèle’s young son, is particularly endearing as the miniature, equally inept version of his mother. Hesme looks like a French version of Keira Knightly, but clearly surpasses her in performance. Her Angèle, a crotch-grabbing and socially awkward heroine, is at a perpetual crossroads with her volatility and determination to prove herself. The characterisation of such an erratic woman provokes feelings of unease, and the sense that she could inadvertently bring about her own demise at any moment.

Delaporte makes some interesting choices as a director and screenwriter but perhaps too much of this film is spent on expounding metaphors. Too many shaky bike-riding scenes and lingering close ups drill out Angèle’s instability, and time would be better served developing subplots that are left by the wayside. There is a hint of mutual attraction between Angèle and Tony’s brother, but this is no sooner realised than it is forgotten. Similarly, the local fishing industry stage protests, but we don’t see anything eventuate.

Aside from these bike fuelled pot holes, Angèle And Tony is a stirring, beautifully realised film, underscored by an evocative soundscape composed by French Musician, Mathieu Maestracci.

If you’re not fased by subtitles, catch it as part of the French Film Festival, running from Thursday, March 17 ’til Monday, March 21, at Luna Palace.

_EMMA D’ORAZIO