L'Intouchable a.k.a The Untouchable (Jacquot)
05-12-07, 01:59 AM
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L'Intouchable a.k.a The Untouchable (Jacquot)
Benoit Jacquot's latest L'Intouchable a.k.a The Untouchable (2006), winner of the Mastroianni Award at the Venice Film Festival is set for a June 6th France-Benelux release. Starring Isild Le Besco (A Tout de Suite).
Review by Boyd van Hoeij:
French director Benoît Jacquot and French Scarlet Johansson-lookalike Isild Le Besco reunite again after A tout de suite for L'intouchable (The Untouchable), a paternal drama that is part of the Official Competition here in Venice in which an aspiring actress (Le Besco) travels to India in the hope of finding her real father, who might be part of the caste of the untouchables. The film itself never really touches on anything beyond the physical presence of its lead actress, which is impressive but not barely enough to carry such a slight film. Distribution beyond French-speaking territories will be virtually non-existant.
L'intouchable is divided into two halves. The first half is set France, where Le Besco's character Jeanne hears from her mother that her father is actually Indian and in which she tries to raise money for her trip. Jacquot shows Jeanne during a lengthy rehearsal scene for a Brecht play that she is about to quit in favour of a better-paid job in a film. The film involves various nude scenes that Jacquot seem to relish, but which, like the Brecht rehearsal, do little to develop Jeanne's character since they show us Jeanne pretending to be someone else. They do showcase Le Besco's presence as an actress and willingness to shed her clothes (the latter seems to be a prerequisite for French actresses in general).
The film's second half is set in India, but again focuses too much on Le Besco's physical presence and not enough on her emotions: Jacquot offers us shots of Jeanne sitting in a train, walking the crowded Indian streets or looking at the funeral pyres that the untouchables tend to (and which has made some of the untouchables incredibly rich). These scenes do not add much to the already little-nuanced character of Jeanne, whose sole mission in this film is to look good and look for her father. India looks gorgeous in its jarring contrasts of rich and poor, tradition and modernity, the religious and the secular, but even these aspects Jacquot's protagonist seems to glance over as a weary traveller rather than an excited backpacker looking for new experiences and especially looking for that face in the crowd that might be similar to her own: the face of her father.
L'intouchable is divided into two halves. The first half is set France, where Le Besco's character Jeanne hears from her mother that her father is actually Indian and in which she tries to raise money for her trip. Jacquot shows Jeanne during a lengthy rehearsal scene for a Brecht play that she is about to quit in favour of a better-paid job in a film. The film involves various nude scenes that Jacquot seem to relish, but which, like the Brecht rehearsal, do little to develop Jeanne's character since they show us Jeanne pretending to be someone else. They do showcase Le Besco's presence as an actress and willingness to shed her clothes (the latter seems to be a prerequisite for French actresses in general).
The film's second half is set in India, but again focuses too much on Le Besco's physical presence and not enough on her emotions: Jacquot offers us shots of Jeanne sitting in a train, walking the crowded Indian streets or looking at the funeral pyres that the untouchables tend to (and which has made some of the untouchables incredibly rich). These scenes do not add much to the already little-nuanced character of Jeanne, whose sole mission in this film is to look good and look for her father. India looks gorgeous in its jarring contrasts of rich and poor, tradition and modernity, the religious and the secular, but even these aspects Jacquot's protagonist seems to glance over as a weary traveller rather than an excited backpacker looking for new experiences and especially looking for that face in the crowd that might be similar to her own: the face of her father.
Last edited by pro-bassoonist; 04-20-08 at 02:06 AM.
