Shortly after the departure of my mam I decided to watch a French film at the Jean Ferrat Cultural Centre in Cabestany. Elle l'adore (She loves him) looked promising.
The blurb told me how it deals with the reaction of a superfan when her singer idol turns up on her doorstep one night.
It looked like it might be similar in structure and general atmosphere to Le Dîner de Cons: a comedy in which one thing happens after another in an apartment over the course of one night.
However, that wasn't the case. I enjoyed Elle l'adore but it wasn't what I had expected at all.
Firstly, it is very dark, which I hadn't seen coming. Vincent's - the singer's - girlfriend dies in a freak accident while they are arguing and his immediate reaction is - bizarrely - to cover up her death by driving around Paris "looking for her."
Why doesn't he just tell the police what happened? I doubt he would have been charged; it was an accident. But I guess if he had been to the police there wouldn't be a film!
Instead, his course of action is to turn up on the doorstep of his number one fan, Muriel, and rope her into disposing of the body.
She agrees but then freaks out and deviates from Vincent's plan without telling him. This leads to much confusion and, ironically, to them both being questioned by the private investigators Vincent initially hired to find his "missing" girlfriend.
The PIs, for their part, are incredibly tedious. The storyline about their romance is completely surplus to requirements: Vincent's and Muriel's relationship is the important one in the film and I would rather watch the PIs just doing their job! Plus, the guy is borderline abusive and the girl mad to put up with it. I hate how she is painted as the one in the wrong.
So, there is much to frown upon in this film but one thing that went some way to saving it is the beauty of certain scenes - the lighting, the sound, all the elements come together from time to time to create something really stunning. I noticed this especially at the beginning of the film: the opening scene where Muriel tells her story and the scenes in the coffee shop and the beauty parlour.
Additionally the acting is solid; I especially love Sandrine Kiberlain as Muriel. She makes the viewer feel for and root for someone whose behaviour is pretty awful.
My final verdict: plotwise, ludicrous; cinematography-wise, pretty good. The ending was bizarre and the final few moments were so predictable but nevertheless made an impression. Ultimately this just wasn't what I was expecting but I tried to have an open mind and found a lot to like about it. However, the awful plot flaws did compromise the nice moments.
I rate this film 3/10 which sounds harsh but I am a harsh marker for films. See my French blog film page for my rating of other films to compare.
I recommend this film if you are open-minded, have some experience of arty French cinema and can overlook ridiculous plotholes to focus on the moments of beauty. They are there.
Thanks for reading,
Liz x
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