Potiche
29/06/16 Filed in: Amazon Prime
In the list of French films on Amazon Prime, Potiche has figured large for quite a while now, so I thought I should give it a try. Une potiche is a decorated porcelain vase, but in familiar language it can mean a trophy wife.
Catherine Deneuve plays Madame Suzanne Pujol, the trophy wife in this French comedy. Set in the 70s, Mme Pujol sits at home while her husband, Robert, runs the family umbrella business, a business started by Suzanne's late father. Robert is a mean-minded boss, a philanderer, and treats his wife as a know-nothing. They have two adult children, Joëlle, who is unhappy in her marriage and as uncompromising as her father, and Laurent, who is a left wing idealist.
Robert's management style has led to a strike and his bombastic attempts to resolve it have laid him low, requiring him to convalesce. It unexpectedly falls to Suzanne to meet the strikers and try to resolve matters. She seeks the help of the mayor, and member of parliament, Maurice Babin (played by Gérard Depardieu), there being a 'connection' between them. He paves the way and her conciliatory approach, treating the workers almost as family, soon wins their trust. Laurent is co-opted to use his design skills to enhance the product range while Joëlle also gets a job, but doesn't quite accept the new philosophies - her father's daughter, as they say.
It all moves along with much humour and careful attention to the period in which it is set. Delightful, in fact.
Catherine Deneuve plays Madame Suzanne Pujol, the trophy wife in this French comedy. Set in the 70s, Mme Pujol sits at home while her husband, Robert, runs the family umbrella business, a business started by Suzanne's late father. Robert is a mean-minded boss, a philanderer, and treats his wife as a know-nothing. They have two adult children, Joëlle, who is unhappy in her marriage and as uncompromising as her father, and Laurent, who is a left wing idealist.
Robert's management style has led to a strike and his bombastic attempts to resolve it have laid him low, requiring him to convalesce. It unexpectedly falls to Suzanne to meet the strikers and try to resolve matters. She seeks the help of the mayor, and member of parliament, Maurice Babin (played by Gérard Depardieu), there being a 'connection' between them. He paves the way and her conciliatory approach, treating the workers almost as family, soon wins their trust. Laurent is co-opted to use his design skills to enhance the product range while Joëlle also gets a job, but doesn't quite accept the new philosophies - her father's daughter, as they say.
It all moves along with much humour and careful attention to the period in which it is set. Delightful, in fact.
Of course things have to be reassessed when Robert finally returns, but by this time the trophy wife has realised her worth and isn't going to let her father's company return to where it was before Robert went away. Unfortunately her daughter, Joëlle, has done a deal with her father, having already undermined her mother's credibility with the workforce, by producing a proposal to move production to Tunisia.
But it doesn't rest there. Suzanne has the bit between her teeth and if she can't continue as the boss at the factory, there is another 'job' at which she believes she would excel. To say more would be to spoil the surprise.
If you want to watch an enjoyable light-hearted comedy and don't mind sub-titles, you could do worse than watch Potiche. If you're learning French, the dialogue is for the most part very clear and there isn't too much colloquial language.
But it doesn't rest there. Suzanne has the bit between her teeth and if she can't continue as the boss at the factory, there is another 'job' at which she believes she would excel. To say more would be to spoil the surprise.
If you want to watch an enjoyable light-hearted comedy and don't mind sub-titles, you could do worse than watch Potiche. If you're learning French, the dialogue is for the most part very clear and there isn't too much colloquial language.