Family Misfortunes
Author: writers_reign from London, England
11 December 2003
This is a vehicle from and for (they both appear in it) a very gifted team of writer/actors or vice versa and in some ways a dress rehearsal for their standout Les Gout des autres which would, a couple of years later, cop a bagful of Cesars and deservedly so. Unlike other commenters I don't find the obvious stage origins a problem any more than I do with say, Francis Veber's 'Diner du Cons', which works equally well in both media. I haven't, alas, seen the stage version of this though I would dearly love to.
The writing is spot on, the characters are flesh and blood and one hundred per cent believable. It's one of those movies where we can say that, yes, we all know people like this. It would be churlish to single out anyone from this fine ensemble cast, including the two authors, suffice it to say that everyone turns in a great performance. One to see again and again.
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
A very French comedy
10/10
Author: BODIN Anthony from Pau, FRANCE
6 January 2000
This French comedy is one of the best of the last years with "On connait la chanson" & "Le diner de cons". I believe that this movie should be very difficult to understand for non-french people or for those who don't know very well our humor. Personally, I love this movie and the actors who are playing in it. Particularly Jean Pierre Bacri with his mimics and his faculty to be hilarious. He has written the script with Agnes Jaoui and this is not a surprise to see that they've succeeded in writting an excellent comedy. In fact they have written many scripts together and they were often very good movies. As many as the others French comedies, I don't know what is the result with the English translation, but I think you should watch it in french version because a good part of the actors play's is in their way of talking and their voice intonation's. And this is very difficult to translate.
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a sweet tale of family dynamics
7/10
Author: Henrietta Ashworth from United Kingdom
19 January 2008
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
'Un air de Famille' takes (as one might deduce from the title) 'Family' as its subject. Specifically, it centres upon one middle-class family in an unnamed town somewhere in France. This lack of specification of location makes the focus of the film abundantly clear; the petty rivalries, failed ambitions and unspoken resentments that characterise the 'family'.
As such, it is very well executed, with a funny and subtle script originating from the play by Jean-Pierre Bacri and Agnès Jaoui who also play, respectively, the family 'loser' Henri and his sister, Betty. It deals with the universal truth that we, as adults, constantly struggle with the stereotypes that our families thrust upon us as children. Henri is 'always screwing up', and Phillippe (Wladimir Yordanoff), the elder brother is the shining star that can do no wrong, at least in the eyes of their formidable matriarch 'Maman', played with terrifying reality and stomach-turning implacability by Claire Maurier.
Betty, as a girl, 'didn't count' and as a result seems to shrink from responsibility and commitment at every opportunity, turning to her brother for work and rejecting a relationship with the sweet bartender, Denis (Jean-Pierre Darroussin). The clash of these conflicting personalities takes place in one evening, as the family assemble to celebrate the birthday of Yolande, Phillippe's sweet and unappreciated wife. The is over-shadowed by Phillipe's anxiety over a two minute TV appearance and the disappearance of Henri's wife, played out against the backdrop of the seemingly bottomless insensitivity of their mother.
The dialogue is sensitive and gently comedic, as are the familiar and mundane situations the characters find themselves in, creating a touching and memorable story. However it is perhaps this that is the central problem of the film; dialogue and character is so much the focus that the film-makers appear to have deemed it unnecessary to transpose the action from play to film. As a result, 'Un Air de Famille' is incredibly static, the action taking place almost entirely in one building, Henri's dilapidated and 'undistinguished' café.
While almost total uniformity of location can be an interesting and effective device in film (Lumets's 'Twelve Angry Men' being the most obvious example), the choice in this context appears careless and unimaginative, leaving the viewer (or at least this viewer) wondering what the claustrophobia was in aid of. This is not to suggest that there is no creative film technique in 'Un Air de Famille', indeed, its use of mirrors and reflections as frequent counterpoints to shots adds an interesting sense of voyeurism. On top of this, it permits the viewer information unseen by the participants, as we observe reactions from characters behind or facing away from the camera.
It is a clever conceit, adding meaning and, at times, comedy. Ultimately, 'Un Air de Famille' is a very enjoyable, sweet and at times funny tale of compromised characters and everyday life. Its denouement, although hopeful for the characters of Betty and Henri, offers little hope for other characters, such as Phillippe and Yolande, but perhaps this is the point; it is observation and understanding that the film offers us, it is perhaps too modest to suggest a solution.
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- out of 1 people found the following review useful:
A Compassionate Klieg Light on "Familliar" Dysfunction
Author: Syd Baumel from Winnipeg, Canada
10 April 2000
I was enthralled by this filmed play of an evening in the life of a family driven to a peak of "dysfunction," but through it all held together by the glue of love, however imperfect (as it always is). The movie is a comedy in the sense that it makes you laugh at, with, and sometimes in spite of the kaleidoscopic display of personal and interpersonal flaws, weaknesses, and vulnerabilities that it illuminates through its crack cast of closely observed and defined characters. Few if any of them fails to reveal a different side to their personality with each turn of the kaleidoscope.
These are complex people - just like the real kind. And the fact that the script, the camera, and the direction simultaneously lay bare their suffering/insufferable humanity (and their unique virtues) while evoking sympathy, fondness, and identification with each one of them is what, to my mind, raises Un Air de Famille from the level of good artistry to that of redeeming social value: art with a heart.
Syd Baumel
