LE GOÛT DES AUTRES
THE TASTE OF OTHERS |
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Director: Angès Jaoui
Screenplay: Agnès Jaoui & Jean-Pierre Bacri.
Cast: Jean-Pierre Bacri; Anne Alvaro; Gérard Lanvin; Alain
Chabat; Agnès Jaoui; Christiane Millet.
Awards: Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actors (Lanvin
& Alvaro), César Awards (2001); Best Screenwriter, European
Film Awards (Berlin, 2000); Grand Prize, Montréal World Film Festival
(2000).
Running time: 112'
Year of production: 1999
Rating: Not rated
Gauge: 16 & 35mm, DVD (color)
Language: French
Distributor: New Yorker Films
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“A
witty, sociologically astute reflection on the attraction between
opposites.” Stephen Holden, The New York Times. |
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Castella,
a factory owner trapped in the repetitive machinery of his own success,
doesn’t realize he’s longing for love and excitement in
his life. One night his wife, Angélique, drags him to a performance
of Racine’s Bérénice. He is unexpectedly and utterly
captivated--not so much by the play as by the lead actress, Clara.
He sees the play again. At his factory, where the staff works to clinch
a big deal with a foreign firm, a consultant compels him to learn
English. His instructor turns out to be Clara. He attempts to get
closer to her; she rebuffs him. He tries to mix with her circle of
friends--actors, artists, gay men--but finds they inhabit separate
social spheres. His bodyguard, Moreno, takes up with Manie, the barmaid
at the bistro where Clara and her friends hang out. Manie and Moreno
embark on an affair, but can’t seem to find any common ground
after their initial infatuation: she’s a free spirit; he’s
an old-fashioned patriarch. This witty, well-acted and unsentimental
romantic comedy portrays the gulf that divides not just different
classes, but different social milieus. In her directorial debut, Jaoui
keeps her style simple and unadorned, focussing on the actors and
the low-key drama of their relationships. A runaway hit in France!
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| PHOTO Courtesy
of Offline Entertainment |
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