Jalouse (2017) Reviews

• Behind The Hate Ball

  writers_reign2018-10-11

  It's possible that sooner or later Karin Viard will sign up for a film and then fail to enhance it, will bring nothing to the project and by extension will fail to provoke laughter and/or tears from me. I am not, hoever, holding my breath waiting. It's true of course that I have not watched every dingle film in which Ms Viard has appeared but I have seen a good 80-85% and have never not been moved one way or the other. She's nothing if not versatile and that helps, of course. At the risk of giving the impression that she carries the film on her back let me quickly sprinkle virtually all the cast with a residue of praise. This is a case of one character alienating every one in her orbit not least her own daughter and yet still able to retain their warmth toward her. It's yet another fine movie from an industry that specialises in high quality.

• Painful film about an unlikeable character

  robfwalter2018-03-30

  Nathalie teaches literature in an academy and treats everyone except her students horribly. She's horrible to her ex-husband, her best friend, her daughter, her neighbours and her colleagues. They all put up with it for varying lengths of time, although it's never clear why they were friends in the first place or why she's being so horrible now. There is a GP who suggests that it's menopause, but then offers no further guidance or treatment. Nathalie herself certainly takes no responsibility for her own actions or mental health. In fact, she seems fairly indifferent to the sad path her life is taking, which was exactly how I felt. What's baffling about this film is that the problem lies with the script. The acting is fine, the direction competent, but the character of Nathalie as it's written is appalling and there is no progression for any of the characters throughout the film. A few people in the French Film Festival audience laughed at the jokes, so maybe it appeals to some people, but this film left me absolutely cold.