Very Well, Thank You
An illuminating satire on contemporary France and its politicsEgalité and fraternité perhaps - but liberté? Not according to this taut and sobering drama of modern life, with a dash of bitter black comedy.
Parisian accountant Alex Gilbert (Gilbert Melki) can't help noticing how much more police presence is around on the Metro, but doesn't think he'll be affected, until he gets cautioned for smoking. Matters come to a head when he hovers too close to the scene of an arrest, decides to stand up for his rights, and finds his life turned upside down by a system that is nightmarishly indifferent to the individual.
A touch of Kafka, albeit in a strictly realist register, gives a chilling edge to this taut, sardonic protest against the erosion of everyday liberties in the new France. Melki and Sandrine Kiberlain, as his cab-driver wife, are among French cinema's experts at slow-burning anxiety, and they're on top of their game in this taut, thought-provoking drama by Emmanuelle Cuau, director of the acclaimed Circuit Carole (1994) and co-writer of Jacques Rivette's Secret Défense.
Jonathan Romney
