Potiche (2010)

When her husband is taken hostage by his striking employees, a trophy wife (Deneuve) takes the reins of the family business and proves to be a remarkably effective leader. Business and ... See full summary »

Director:

François Ozon

Writers:

François Ozon (scenario), Pierre Barillet (play),

Stars:

Catherine Deneuve, Gérard Depardieu, Fabrice Luchini

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Catherine Deneuve	...	Suzanne Pujol
Gérard Depardieu	...	Maurice Babin
Fabrice Luchini	...	Robert Pujol
Karin Viard	...	Nadège Dumoulin
Judith Godrèche	...	Joëlle Pujol de la Morette
Jérémie Renier	...	Laurent Pujol (as Jérémie Rénier)
Sergi López	...	Le routier espagnol (as Sergi Lopez)
Évelyne Dandry	...	Geneviève Michonneau
Bruno Lochet	...	André Ferron (le syndicaliste)
Elodie Frégé	...	Suzanne jeune
Gautier About	...	Babin jeune
Jean-Baptiste Shelmerdine	...	Robert jeune
Noam Charlier	...	Flavien
Martin De Myttenaere	...	Stanislas
Yannick Schmitz	...	Jean-François

Storyline

When her husband is taken hostage by his striking employees, a trophy wife (Deneuve) takes the reins of the family business and proves to be a remarkably effective leader. Business and personal complications arrive in the form of her ex-lover (Depardieu), a former union leader.

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Plot Keywords:

factory | hostage | umbrella | ex lover | marriage | 

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Taglines:

The trophy is coming off the shelf.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Music Box Films [us] Official site

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

10 November 2010 (France)

Also Known As:

Potiche (Trophy Wife)

Filming Locations:

Anderlecht, Brussels, Brussels-Capital, Belgium

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$86,017 (USA) (25 March 2011)

Gross:

$1,618,844 (USA) (29 July 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mandarin Films, FOZ, France 2 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A trailer for this film is used in UK cinemas as part of the "Don't let mobile phones spoil your film" campaign run by the telecoms company Orange. The English subtitles have been replaced with new phone-related dialogue and the music in the disco sequence is replaced with a ringtone version.

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Goofs

The movie is set in 1977, but some of the cars have white headlights. French cars had yellow headlights and switched to white ones only in 1993. However Gerard Depardieu's car has the correct headlights.

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Connections

Version of Potiche (1983)

User Reviews

One of the funniest movies I've ever seen

I saw this at a Catherine Deneuve film retrospective, this being the only new film that was shown. There were about 1200 people in this huge theatre and we were all laughing out loud almost all the way through. Perhaps, because I am the same age as Deneuve, I could identify with her character more and I don't have any nitpicking to do with the movie's pace or plot. It did get off slowly in the beginning but that was essential to set the characters so that their various twists and turns could then seem out of character. The story line is really unimportant here - it is the small interactions among the characters as well as the large ones, the surprises that lay in store for us as the situation unfolds, and the comic timing that accompanies the story's contortions that make it so darn funny. Some characters are overdrawn to the point of being ridiculous - that is it would be ridiculous in a serious drama. But this is a comedy with not a few semi-slapstick elements. Depardieu is a kick and Deneuve is at the top of her game. See this!