They've done it again: French cinema has added a new female director to its already swollen pantheon so now the likes of Danielle Thompson, Marion Vernous, Tonie Marshall, Nicole Garcia, Anne Fontaine, Agnes Jaoui et al can make way for Alix Delacorte to take her place alongside them. This is nothing short of a minor gem and the fact that it reminds us superficially of other charming films - Je vous trouve tres beau, Marius et Jeannette - is a positive rather than a negative. Not unlike The Apartment it starts out as one thing and then seamlessly becomes something else. Working from her own Original screenplay Delacorte has chosen all her actors well, none more than the two leads, Clotilde Hesme and Gregory Gadebois, a pair I noticed first in small roles in yet another exceptional French film Le Chignon d'Olga. For the first two or three reels Delacorte is happy to let us see the negative aspects of Angele and have her unable to penetrate the defensive shell of Gadebois and conclude the relationship has nowhere to go and then, the humanity that has been simmering beneath the surface in both cases bursts out joyously and we have a charming love story on our hands. Like Ariane Ariscade the face of Clotilde Hesme in repose in not so prepossessing but when she smiles she can, just like Ariscade, light up a whole city. Two well deserved Caesars for the two leads prove that just occasionally Awards committees can get it right.
Review of Angel & Tony
