C'est le Bouquet (2003)

Synopsis: Jeanne Labrune's (TOMORROW'S ANOTHER DAY) self-described "fantasy" traces the bizarre, coincidental and quotidian events which transpire after an early morning phone call. Emmanuel Kirsch (Richard... Jeanne Labrune's (TOMORROW'S ANOTHER DAY) self-described "fantasy" traces the bizarre, coincidental and quotidian events which transpire after an early morning phone call. Emmanuel Kirsch (Richard Debuisne) inexplicably telephones Catherine (Sandrine Kiberlain) after fifteen years without contact, and subsequently she and her husband Raphael (Jean-Pierre Darroussin) proceed to argue. Flustered by the argument, Raphael seeks to assert some dominance at work, but instead he is fired. Shocked, he goes to a bar with Edith (Dominique Blanc), a fellow employee whose careerist strategies involve Immanuel Kant, Van Gogh, and one-night stands. Kirsch, meanwhile, who has somewhat disappeared from the story, sends Catherine a bouquet of flowers as an apology for disturbing her morning. Catherine's neighbors intercept the flowers and the story begins to spiral. Mixing cause-and-effect scenarios with random events, Labrune's plot uses chance to disrupt the logic of everyday life. In a somewhat Altmanesque manner, the film starts to fragment more and more into small vignettes, following an ever-increasing character load. The vignettes always remain integrated, however, by the intelligent and socially conscious dialogue which echoes from scene to scene. While C'EST LE BOUQUET feels lighthearted and comedic throughout, a somewhat abrupt change of tone towards the end gives the film an unexpected and sudden gravity. Part of Rendez-Vous With French Cinema 2003 presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, Unifrance, and The French Film Office/Unifrance USA, together with French Cultural Services. [More]

Starring: Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Dominique Blanc, Mathieu Amalric, Jean-Claude Brialy

Starring: Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Dominique Blanc, Mathieu Amalric, Jean-Claude Brialy, Maurice Benichou, Helene Lapiower, Dominique Besnehard, Richard Debuisne

Director: Jeanne Labrune

Director: Jeanne Labrune
Screenwriter: Jeanne Labrune
Producer: Alain Sarde
Composer: Bruno Fontaine

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