Nue propriété (2006)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Joachim Lafosse

Writers:

Joachim Lafosse (writer)
François Pirot (writer)

Release Date:

24 January 2007 (Belgium)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Divorce | Kitchen | Breakfast | Fence | Ironing

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Isabelle Huppert	...	Pascale
Jérémie Renier	...	Thierry
Yannick Renier	...	François
Kris Cuppens	...	Jan
Patrick Descamps	...	Luc
Raphaëlle Lubansu	...	Anne
Sabine Riche	...	Gerda
Dirk Tuypens	...	Dirk
Philippe Constant	...	Ami de Jan
Catherine Salée	...	Amie de Jan
Delphine Bibet	...	Karine
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anton Biral	...	Gerda as a child

Directed by
Joachim Lafosse

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Joachim Lafosse		writer
François Pirot		writer

Produced by
Martine de Clermont-Tonnerre	....	associate producer
Donato Rotunno	....	associate producer
Joseph Rouschop	....	producer
Arlette Zylberberg	....	associate producer

Cinematography by
Hichame Alaouie

Film Editing by
Sophie Vercruysse

Production Design by
Anna Falguère

Costume Design by
Nathalie du Roscoat

Makeup Department
Thi-Loan Nguyen	....	key makeup artist
Antonella Prestigiacomo	....	key hair stylist

Production Management
Vincent Canart	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Valerie Houdart	....	first assistant director
Vania Leturcq	....	assistant director
Céline Morsomme	....	second assistant director
Valéry Rosier	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Benoît Biral	....	sound re-recording mixer
Quentin Collette	....	boom operator
Benoît De Clerck	....	sound
Ingrid Simon	....	sound editor
Philippe van Leer	....	foley artist

Camera and Electrical Department
Nicolas Boucart	....	key grip
Jean-François Metz	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Emilien Lazaron	....	first assistant editor

Production Companies

• Tarantula
• MACT Productions (co-production)
• Radio Télévision Belge Francophone (RTBF) (co-production)
• Wallimage (participation)
• Canal+ (participation)
• CinéCinéma (participation)
• Cofinova 2 (participation)
• Sogécinéma 2 (participation)
• Fonds National de Soutien à la Production Audiovisuelle du Luxembourg
• Région Wallonne

Distributors

• A-Film Distribution (2007) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Alfa Films (2008) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Haut et Court (2007) (France) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• New Yorker Films (2007) (USA) (all media) (subtitled)
• Red Envelope Entertainment (2007) (USA) (all media)

Other Companies

• Eye-Lite Group  camera equipment provided by
• Eye-Lite Group  lighting

Also Known As:

Private Property (International: English title)

Runtime:

Canada:105 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | USA:95 min | Argentina:95 min

Country:

Luxembourg | Belgium | France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Italy:T | Netherlands:6 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Chaumont Gistoux, Brabant Wallon, Belgium

Company:

Tarantula

Twin Piques

Isabelle Huppert, who has A-list directors standing in line to work with her is celebrated for her willingness to help new writer-directors by lending her name to attract finance and her presence on set to attract audiences. This can, of course, prove embarrassing - Josie Balasko's first directorial effort Sac de Noeuds didn't exactly set the screen alight but Huppert was right to see the promise which has since been kept over and over - but on the other hand it can result in something as delightful as Aleandra Leclerc's Les Soeurs fachees (Huppert has a new film with Leclerc, Les Mediaturs, in post-production even as we speak). She got it right this time, too, with Joachim Lafosse who probably wouldn't have got this one off the ground without Huppert. Real-life brothers Jeremie and Yannick Renier play Huppert's twin sons who live with her in what was the family home til Huppert divorced their father Patrick Descamps, who has remarried and lives within driving distance with his new wife and child. The French title Nue Propriete, is more specific, a French legal term in which a family member, usually an ex-spouse, is allowed to live in a house but has no legal right to ownership so that they cannot, for example, sell it or take in lodgers. This, in fact is the position in which Huppert finds herself and as it happens she does want to sell, move away with a neighbour/lover and open a B&B. This brings us to the twins, neither of whom appears to have any friends although one has a girl he uses as a sex-object. Long before we, the audience, enter the scene, the boys have become dominant, especially Jeremie Renier who thinks nothing of interrogating his mother daily, verbally abusing her and going through her bag. It goes without saying that her attempt to introduce her lover to the twins is a disaster. This is a cloistered, unhealthy family with Huppert thinking nothing of taking a shower openly whilst one son cleans his teeth two or three feet away; a great deal of screen time is given over to meals, traditionally a time when families come together in harmony but not, of course, here. As usual Huppert gives a Master-Class in Screen acting but there isn't really a bad performance throughout. It's not exactly Feelgood but it is a fine film and worth anyone's time.