My life is hell

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Movie
German title My life is hell
Original title Ma vie est un enfer
Country of production France
original language French
Publishing year 1991
length 105 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Josiane Balasko
script Josiane Balasko
Joël Houssin
production Farid Chaouche
music Les Rita Mitsouko
camera Dominique Chapuis
cut Catherine Kelber
occupation

My Life is Hell is a French comedy film directed by Josiane Balasko from 1991.

action

Leah Lemonier is deeply dissatisfied with her life. She works as a dental assistant, but her boss treats her badly. She regularly goes to see her psychiatrist Xavier Slowly, with whom she is in love, but who only wants to take her money from her. She spends her evening watching the film Screams and Whispers and the party noise from her neighbor, Mr. Chpil's apartment. In turn, she rented her apartment from her mother Flo, who looks and acts young due to numerous cosmetic operations, regularly has new lovers and just as regularly brings her dog Gorby over to her to look after. Flo also uses her daughter's apartment to store antiques and other things that she regularly buys. One day she brings an old mirror that she bought in Rome. Then she goes to her lover Dimitri, although Leah notes that she is celebrating her 35th birthday today. Once again prevented from sleeping by the noise from the neighboring apartment, Leah takes a closer look at the mirror and reads the inscription. Shortly afterwards, Abargadon stands before her, a demon of the fifth circle who offers Leah to call him Abar. Leah initially believes he is a burglar trying to rape her before assuming that Chpil is trying to joke her. She angrily throws Abar out of her apartment. She realizes that there is something different about Abar when he turns Flo's dog Gorby into a pig before he leaves.

The next day Leah sees Abar again: he has given himself up as a patient to be treated by her boss. When she tries to warn her boss about Abar, he dismisses her without notice. Leah is desperate and doesn't want to know anything about Abar's attempts at reconciliation. She is in the process of teaching her mother how to transform Gorby when Abar appears with the dog in his arms. He flirts with Flo, compliments her, and turns her into her real, wrinkled self in front of Leah's eyes. Leah is as fascinated as it is concerned. Since she is unemployed, she tries to get an adjusted pay the next time she visits a psychiatrist, but Dr. Slowly in a hurry because he wants to play golf. He finally throws her out, and it is Abar who receives her and comforts her. In her apartment he makes her a proposal: Your soul at the end of your life in exchange for a life full of wishes. She signs the contract, but does not know that it also provides for an end to life in three months.

In golf, Leah soon appears as an extremely attractive woman, whom Dr. Slowly and introducing his friends as Scarlet. All the men are entranced, and Leah triumphantly disappears into the washroom, where Abar is already waiting for her. Because she wants to know the reaction to her appearance, Abar reduces her to the size of a mouse. So she learns that in her absence the men bet on who will get her to bed first. Leah is outraged and hurt and, with Abar's help, takes revenge on Dr. Slowly. She seduces him in a special way, because Abar has put a penis on her. However, Abar soon gets into trouble with his actions: Archangel Gabriel appears in his local bar and explains to him that he had the wrong woman sign the contract. Leah had long been reserved for heaven, the hell contract was meant for Flo. The pact is immediately canceled, leaving Leah back in her original form and Dr. Slowly frightened. Abar rushes to her to prevent her from committing suicide. He would lose a valuable potential soul. Abar and Leah spend the following days together. She has forgiven him for his trick with the three months, especially since he continues to do magic for her. He gives her a dress with a hoop skirt and goes with her to a variety theater, where he turns some of the guests into animals. Leah becomes a pigeon and enjoys flying. Although she doesn't want him to leave, Abar is arrested by two men shortly afterwards. They bring him to the Archangel Gabriel, who curses him because of his actions and makes him human. He's going to die in three months like he planned to with Leah. Abar is sent back to earth in rags. He's tearful, in pain, and weak. Leah takes him to a church where she calls Archangel Gabriel and asks for mercy for him. Gabriel agrees: If Abar does not commit any wrongdoing in the three months, he can continue to live as a person.

Back in Leah's apartment, Abar regains his demon powers. Leah realizes that this is the way to tempt Abar to do injustice and tries to prevent the worst. In the following years she stopped shell games and got him to get his temper under control, which doesn't always work. Her sex life does not exist either, as Abar was castrated as a punishment. When Flo announces that she wants to sell the apartment because she wants to move to Zurich , Leah prevents Abar from giving her conjured up money for the apartment. It's the last day of parole, after all. Abar struggles with himself because he doesn't want to be as ordinary and jaded as the people around him. He decides he'd rather die. He tells Leah that he never loved her. He travels away with two ladies from hell and provokes a fight in a restaurant, in which he feels lost. He eventually leaves and resists temptation. Back at Leah's house, the building is on fire. Abar, who is used to fire, first saves a child from the house and finally Leah, who is admitted to the hospital. Her chances of survival are bad here, and Abar gives her some of his demon energy. In addition, he arranges it so that Leah can no longer remember him when she wakes up - a mistake. Abar does not die at midnight after saving the child from the fire. In the following months he tried in vain to attract Leah's attention. She is promoted to head of a dental company. When she catches him breaking into her office, she sees him as a rewarding soul, having become a demon herself through the energy transfer. Abar is happy and signs the contract after removing some of the tricks he is familiar with. The first wish she should grant him is herself, immediately and on the spot. And that is just the beginning.

production

My life is hell was filmed in Paris . The costumes were created by Sophie Breton and Jean-Paul Gaultier , the film structures were created by Hugues Tissandier . The film was released in French cinemas on December 4, 1991 and also opened in German cinemas on June 3, 1993. In 2003 the film was released on DVD in France.

criticism

“Fantastic comedy with no esprit, but full of vulgar ideas and hits below the belt; also an unreasonable acting. "

- Lexicon of international film

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b My life is hell. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ Locations according to the Internet Movie Database
  3. ↑ Start dates according to the Internet Movie Database