Happiness

CinemaSerf7/10

May 14, 2024

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Ha! Talk about having your cake and eating it! "François" (Jean-Claude Drouot) is happily married to "Thérèse" (Claire Drouot) and living in a small apartment with their two children "Pierrot" and "Gisou". They are a loving couple and seem perfectly content with life. Then "François" is despatched to do some work away from home and when calling his boss from the post office encounters "Émilie" (Marie-France Boyer) with whom he swaps a smile. That's just the beginning as the two chat a little, flirt a little and then... Now he isn't a bad man in any malevolent sense, he genuinely loves his wife and makes it clear to his new friend that she will always take priority - a situation that "Émilie" appears to be quite willing to accept - albeit reservedly. Thing is, on a family picnic he decides that it's only fair that his wife know the truth. On the face of it, at least that's an half way honest thing to do but, well you'll have to watch and see. There’s something unnervingly inconclusive about this film. Nobody is inherently bad or evil or even deliberately thoughtless, yet he is possibly one of the most selfish people I've ever seen (benignly) portrayed in cinema. He genuinely thinks his cherry-picking, almost like a job-share, arrangement will satisfy these women. It's tightly cast with a sufficient minimum of dialogue to augment a story that is surprisingly thought-provoking to watch. Maybe a little over-scored but well worth eighty minutes before a denouement that might make you want to look your own partner in the eye! Or maybe into a mirror...?