Odette Toulemonde
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Odette Toulemonde |
| Original title | Odette Toulemonde |
| Country of production | France , Belgium |
| original language | French |
| Publishing year | 2007 |
| length | 101 minutes |
| Age rating |
FSK 6 JMK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt |
| script | Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt |
| production | Gaspard de Chavagnac |
| music | Nicola Piovani |
| camera | Carlo Varini |
| cut | Philippe Bourgueil |
| occupation | |
| |
Odette Toulemonde is a 2007 Franco-Belgian romantic comedy film with Catherine Frot and Albert Dupontel in the lead roles. The film is the directorial debut of Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt , who, based on his work Odette Toulemonde and other stories (French: Odette Toulemonde et autres histoires ), also wrote the screenplay.
The film was released in French cinemas on February 7, 2007 and became a financial success with 0.8 million admissions. In Switzerland, the strip started on October 18, 2007, in Germany on October 25, 2007 and in Austria on November 1, 2007.
action
Odette Toulemonde, widowed for ten years, works as a saleswoman in the cosmetics department of a department store in Charleroi, Belgium . Together with her two adult children, the unemployed and always grumpy daughter Sue Helen and her unbearable friend Polo, as well as the beloved gay son Rudy, a hairdresser with constantly changing sex partners, she lives in a confined space in a small rented apartment. To supplement her meager salary, she occasionally works in the evenings as a seamstress for a theater.
She finds strength and relaxation in the funny novels of the bestselling author and womanizer Balthazar Balsan, whom she adores passionately because he enriches her dreary everyday life. During a book signing of his new book, she meets her favorite author, bored and frustrated, completely excited. This shows completely disinterested in his mostly older readers. With a small dedication in the book, the humble Odette travels home happily and, on Rudy's advice, writes a glowing letter of admiration, which she will hand over personally to her great idol in the next few days.
The married Balsan, whose latest book was devastated by the review , enjoys all the pleasant virtues of an earthly existence. The big city with all its glitz and glamor, as well as his spacious Parisian apartment, which is managed by his own domestic servant, shape his life. Still, unsure of his artistic talent, he is unhappy. He is also extremely sensitive and receptive to criticism. Full of doubts after his work, which was torn by critics, he notices that his wife, who is slowly estranged from him, is publicly cheating on him with his sharpest adversary, a literary critic; while his young son wishes not to belong to the clan of the renowned writer. In this bleak phase marked by self-doubt, the scorned artist loses all courage to face life and falls into a deep depression . After a failed suicide attempt, the author regains his courage and flees psychiatry in search of happiness .
Balsan tries to treat himself , remembers his fan mail and turns up unannounced at the astonished Odette, who willingly takes him in for a few days in her cramped home. It is already their third meeting, but the writer seeking consolation cannot remember the previous encounters. The simple woman who masters her life happily and full of optimism fascinates the writer. He gains new courage to face life and finally falls in love with Odette, who, however, kindly but firmly rejects him, although she in turn has feelings for him. She secretly wants a love affair, but the great social difference makes her doubt.
But the acquaintance with the well-known writer was not without consequences for Odette. She becomes the target of various jealousies from her colleagues. In the short vacation financed by Balthazar, she plans to enable her great love to have a happy life and invites his separated wife to make up for it, but her plan fails. The successful author prefers Odette to his wife. At the end of the film, she receives her Balthazar Balsan, who is tied to her bedside by a fit of weakness, who lovingly dedicates his new work “The Happiness of Others” to her in the final scenes.
Reviews
“With twists that are as fantastic as they are amusing, the romantic comedy flirts with the everyday stink of a bourgeois middle class and takes it on. The constructed story only works in rudimentary form and all too often remains as stale as the narrow-mindedness that it tries to overcome. "
“With boundless sympathy for his heroine [..] he created a shimmering universe between realism and enchantment, in which women can fly, Jesus begs on the street corner and kitschy motif wallpapers come to life. It is autumn, the sun is low and hearts are heavy - just the right time for this wondrous everyday poetry that is not afraid of sentimentality. "
Awards
Leading actress Catherine Frot was nominated for the César in 2008.
literature
- Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt: Odette Toulemonde and other stories , from the French by Inés Koebel . Ammann, Zurich 2007, ISBN 978-3-250-60108-1
Web links
- Odette Toulemonde in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- official German side of the film
- Odette Toulemonde in the German dubbing file
Individual evidence
- ↑ Age rating for Odette Toulemonde . Youth Media Commission .
- ↑ allocine.fr (French) accessed 11 November 2007
- ↑ Odette Toulemonde. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ cinema.de ( Memento of the original from June 13, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 11, 2007
