Loading ...“My best friend” by Patrice Leconte with Daniel Auteuil, Dany Boon and Julie Gayet
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I have to admit that Daniel Auteuil is my favourite modern french actor and I would find it really hard to dislike one of his films. However, he’s my favourite french actor for a reason: his films are never mediocre.
“My best friend” (”Mon meilleur ami”) might sound simple on the surface but has depths and depths of character. The premise is this: Francois (Daniel Auteuil) is being told by his colleagues that nobody will go to his funerals and he wants to prove them wrong by presenting them his best friend. He makes a bet with his lesbian business partner Catherine (Julie Gayet), who co-owns an antique gallery with him. Simple enough? Well, not for a man who struggles to make friends… |
Telling the story isn’t enough. This film throws out so many observations about people, about the way we live, the way we use money, it will no doubt make you think about how you behave with your friends.
It is set in Paris - an abundant taxi-trips filled lifestyle for Francois, a suburban metro-riding experience for Bruno (Dany Boon). There is a host of characters, all of them really fully defined. It doesn’t feel like the secondary characters are here to serve the plot but that they really are here, fully, as part of the story and the emotions in the story.
The subtitles were better than average so even if you don’t understand French, it is worth watching. It is important to mention the quality of the subtitles because I have seen some french films with appalling subtitles in english, leaving me to wonder how could anyone follow the story from the subtitles, but this is not the case with this film, the subtitles are very well done.
If you think that all good films come from the USA or England, think again. This is a great modern French film, with a great cast. And if you want to watch more French films after this, pick up any film with Daniel Auteuil, he hasn’t made a bad film yet… Recommended.
Links:
Video interview with Daniel Auteuil, BFI London Film Festival
Interview with Patrice Leconte, IndieWire
Interview with Dany Boon, FranceInLondon
Tags: lesbian/bi women