La maison (2007)

Malo (Sergi Lopez) has separated from his wife and a divorce is in the works. His children leave with his wife on holiday, and he is lonely and depressed. His friend Rémi (Bruno Salomone) ... See full synopsis »

Director:

Manuel Poirier

Writer:

Manuel Poirier

Stars:

Sergi López, Bruno Salomone, Bérénice Bejo

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sergi López	...	Malo
Bruno Salomone	...	Rémi
Bérénice Bejo	...	Cloé
Barbara Schulz	...	Laura
Cécile Rebboah	...	Nathalie
Florence Darel	...	Noémie
Luc Bernard	...	Fournier
Guillaume de Tonquédec	...	L'avocat (as Guillaume de Tonquedec)
Bastien Telmon	...	Le jeune avocat
Sam Desarmegnin	...	Ferdinand
Juliette Poirier	...	Lola
Léo Poirier	...	Antoine
Tom Méziane	...	Jérémie
Julie Judd	...	La jeune entraîneuse
Philippe Mangione	...	L'adjoint de l'imprimerie

Storyline

Malo (Sergi Lopez) has separated from his wife and a divorce is in the works. His children leave with his wife on holiday, and he is lonely and depressed. His friend Rémi (Bruno Salomone) drags him to a party in the country, and driving back they see by chance a notice of a house being sold at auction by creditors. The low reserve price surprises them and they go round to have a look. Finding the door open, Malo picks up a letter from a little girl to her father saying she misses him - moved by the resonance with his own daughter, Malo accidentally takes the note with him when they leave in a hurry. He then resolves to return the note to the now grown-up little girl Cloé (Bérénice Bejo), but of course it's awkward to explain how he got it. He learns that she really doesn't want to sell the house, which is all that remains of her childhood. The relationship between them develops, and emotions run high at the auction. Ultimately the film explores whether Malo can give both or either ...

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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | full frontal female nudity | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Diaphana [France]

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

22 August 2007 (France)

Also Known As:

A ház

Company Credits

Production Co:

Diaphana Films,France 3 Cinéma,Canal+

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

User Reviews

not a very good movie

This French movie is just a little but too easy-going and too much of a bunch of clichés to remain interesting all the way trough the end. It has some nice ideas, and indeed some good scenes, but there are many useless comments made in the film, or stereotypes (such as the over intelligent kid of 5 years old).

The good scenes are mainly all the ones having Sergi Lopez, who does indeed deliver a good acting job. But then again, too many scenes to get irritated about, the always sunny and calm Paris, the divorced man getting drunk all the time, these stereotypes seem too far away from the reality of real life today. The characters lack some depth, and the relationships between stays somewhat superficial. The way the two sisters act with one another for instance would have merited a more thorough attention throughout the movie.

A bit disappointing for me.

The music score was also quite monotonous, fans of Lhasa in French will love it, but I preferred this Canadian singer when she still sung in Spanish.

As a whole, an interesting starting point : different people want to buy the same house, for different reasons, and these people will throughout the movie get in conflict with one another.

Then again, this issue is the one and only dominant plot line, and the movie lacks some interesting other issues, such as the development of friendship, or the explicitation of some unsais issues.