The Midwife (2017)
(Sage femme)
Country: FR/BEL
Technical: col 117m
Director: Martin Provost
Cast: Catherine Frot, Catherine Deneuve, Olivier Gourmet
Synopsis:
A committed midwife whose clinic is about to undergo 'restructuring' and whose private life is confined to worrying over her only son is contacted by her late father's former mistress whom she has not seen for decades and who has terminal cancer. She is a monster of egotism and the father shot himself in the heart when she left him. So the question is, how far do the daughter's carer instincts go?
Review:
Expert French two-hander, with Deneuve exploiting her, by now, stereotypical late-career role as a pampered, headstrong former beauty who nevertheless shows an engaging intolerance for newfangled concepts of what constitutes a healthy life. Sure enough, the dour Frot character is supping red wine with the rest of them before the movie is out. On a more serious note, the film deals with a number of grown-up issues, from the knock-on effects of parental mistakes to the privatisation of healthcare, via the ascendancy of human contact over all other spiritual or ethical routes to happiness. The latter seems to be enshrined in Gourmet's free-spirited truck driver, who has found the perfect life balance between his allotment and long-distance haulage to Poland and back.
(Sage femme)
Country: FR/BEL
Technical: col 117m
Director: Martin Provost
Cast: Catherine Frot, Catherine Deneuve, Olivier Gourmet
Synopsis:
A committed midwife whose clinic is about to undergo 'restructuring' and whose private life is confined to worrying over her only son is contacted by her late father's former mistress whom she has not seen for decades and who has terminal cancer. She is a monster of egotism and the father shot himself in the heart when she left him. So the question is, how far do the daughter's carer instincts go?
Review:
Expert French two-hander, with Deneuve exploiting her, by now, stereotypical late-career role as a pampered, headstrong former beauty who nevertheless shows an engaging intolerance for newfangled concepts of what constitutes a healthy life. Sure enough, the dour Frot character is supping red wine with the rest of them before the movie is out. On a more serious note, the film deals with a number of grown-up issues, from the knock-on effects of parental mistakes to the privatisation of healthcare, via the ascendancy of human contact over all other spiritual or ethical routes to happiness. The latter seems to be enshrined in Gourmet's free-spirited truck driver, who has found the perfect life balance between his allotment and long-distance haulage to Poland and back.
(Sage femme)
Country: FR/BEL
Technical: col 117m
Director: Martin Provost
Cast: Catherine Frot, Catherine Deneuve, Olivier Gourmet
Synopsis:
A committed midwife whose clinic is about to undergo 'restructuring' and whose private life is confined to worrying over her only son is contacted by her late father's former mistress whom she has not seen for decades and who has terminal cancer. She is a monster of egotism and the father shot himself in the heart when she left him. So the question is, how far do the daughter's carer instincts go?
Review:
Expert French two-hander, with Deneuve exploiting her, by now, stereotypical late-career role as a pampered, headstrong former beauty who nevertheless shows an engaging intolerance for newfangled concepts of what constitutes a healthy life. Sure enough, the dour Frot character is supping red wine with the rest of them before the movie is out. On a more serious note, the film deals with a number of grown-up issues, from the knock-on effects of parental mistakes to the privatisation of healthcare, via the ascendancy of human contact over all other spiritual or ethical routes to happiness. The latter seems to be enshrined in Gourmet's free-spirited truck driver, who has found the perfect life balance between his allotment and long-distance haulage to Poland and back.