Look at Me (2004)

A french girl gifted with a great voice, has a complex about her weight and her appearance.

Director:

Agnès Jaoui

Writers:

Agnès Jaoui (scenario), Jean-Pierre Bacri (scenario)

Stars:

Marilou Berry, Jean-Pierre Bacri, Agnès Jaoui

8 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Marilou Berry	...	Lolita Cassard
Agnès Jaoui	...	Sylvia Millet
Jean-Pierre Bacri	...	Étienne Cassard
Laurent Grévill	...	Pierre Millet
Virginie Desarnauts	...	Karine Cassard
Keine Bouhiza	...	Sébastien
Grégoire Oestermann	...	Vincent
Serge Riaboukine	...	Félix
Michèle Moretti	...	Édith
Jean-Pierre Lazzerini	...	Le chauffeur de taxi
Jacques Boko	...	Le videur
Yves Verhoeven	...	Le badaud 1
Samir Guesmi	...	Le badaud 2
Bob Zaremba	...	Le type qu'on voit partout
Roberte Kiehl	...	La pianiste du conservatoire

Storyline

Lolita, plump, in her 20s, desperately wants her father's attention. He's egotistical, a famous writer and publisher with an attractive wife little older than Lolita. She's in a choir, rehearsing for a concert; she's given her father a tape, which he's yet to listen to. Sylvia, a voice coach, is willing to help the group, knowing she'll have a chance to get her husband's new novel in front of Lolita's father. For Lolita, this is a pattern: people pay attention to her to gain access to him, something she fears is the intent of Sébastien, a struggling journalist who may become her boyfriend. The night of the concert, the music may bring out everyone's feelings.

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Plot Keywords:

watching tv | writer | friend | concert | weight | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Music | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief language and a sexual reference

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Classics [United States]

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French Italian

Release Date:

20 May 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Look at Me

Filming Locations:

Menades, Yonne, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$3,170,944 (France), 24 September 2004

Opening Weekend USA:

$69,587, 3 April 2005, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,736,499, 14 August 2005

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films A4, StudioCanal, France 2 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film contains a clip from Blood on the Moon (1948).

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Quotes

Étienne Cassard: There's cyanide in the bathroom.
Sébastien: Why do you say that?
Étienne Cassard: Just to cut the tension.

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Connections

Features Blood on the Moon (1948)

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Soundtracks

My Block Nitty Remix
(Tupac Shakur (as T.A.Shakur) - Ray Don Coleman - Easy Mo Bee (as S.Osten Harvey) - F.Pimental)
interprété par Tupac Shakur (as 2 PAC)
© 2002 Bee Mo Easy Music - Emi April Music Inc.
Universal Music Publishing - Pimental International (BMI)
Ray Don Coleman for Nexxus Entertainment Inc.,
Emotion I compose Music (ASCAP)
(P) 2002 Amaru/Interscope Records
produit par Frank Nitty pour Nexxus Entertainment Inc.
avec l'aimable autorisation de Polydor, Universal Music Projets Spéciaux et des Editions Emi Music Publishing France
Tous droits résérvés pour l'Univers Entier

User Reviews

What price glory?

COMME UNE IMAGE (LOOK AT ME) is a tough little film that practically defies the viewer to love it. Rated as a comedy, it has few chuckles of the usual kind, but the smart tidy script delivers more of the Reformation-type comedy - wit with a bite. Writer/director and star Agnès Jaoui (her co-author is her ex-husband Jean-Pierre Bacri who also stars) is obviously an intelligent, observant, caustic chronicler of contemporary French society who dotes on celebrities at the expense of their own self-respect. Not a single character in this film is likable, but each one is fascinatingly interesting and a bit warped. Their interaction provides the venom that in Jaoui's hands raises the bar on the range of comedy.

Étienne Cassard (Jean-Pierre Bacri) is a famous writer whose latest novel has been 'transformed' into a schmaltzy film about which he is loathsomely embarrassed. He is caustic, acerbic, and emotionally negligent of both his grown obese daughter Lolita (Marilou Berry), who devotes her resentful life in an attempt to being a famous concert singer, and to his new wife Karine (Virginie Desarnauts) and little daughter. Lolita's music coach is Sylvia (Agnès Jaoui) whose demands on her students reflect her frustrated life being married to an unknown author Pierre (Laurent Grévill). Odd paths cross and it is through Lolita's influence as the daughter of a famous writer Étienne that Sylvia arranges for Pierre to join forces with Étienne and gain acceptance and popularity, but the consequences include Sylvia's increased tutelage for Lolita and her group of fellow madrigal singers.

Lolita comes the closest to being a character about whom we care. She is distraught about her weight, her distant father, her stepmother and stepsister, her inability to gain the affection for the boy of her dreams, her struggle to become a significant performer - all of which prevents her from recognizing the man who could salvage it all - Sébastien (Keine Bouhiza) who literally falls at her feet! All of these characters interact in complex and at times trying ways, ever cognizant of the 'authority of celebrity' and the results of these engagements form the body of the film. The acting is on a high level, the dialogue is crisp and smart, and the musical background for this mélange is a gorgeous mixture of classical music ranging from Buxtehude through Schubert ('An die Musik' plays a big role!) and many others. This 'comedy' is more intellectual than entertaining, but if wit and elegance of acting brings you joy, then this is a film to see. In French with subtitles at a long 2 hours! Grady Harp