Potiche

[jem&theholograms]

Was hoping to see this one as I love Catherine Deneuve, but unfortunately I'm away next weekend, so may have to p*y for this one. Will look forward to your reviews!

[Beate]

This is from my Greenwich Picturehouse newsletter and I guess it would be the same for all or most Picturehouses. The preview is not free, it costs a shocking £11.50 per person, but just in case someone is interested or has a voucher:

http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/G ... ellite_Q_A

Wednesday 15 June, 6.10

We are delighted to announce a live satellite Q&A with Catherine Deneuve and director François Ozon, hosted by Jason Solomons, following a preview of POTICHE.

[Beate]

We thorougly enjoyed this, it's light-hearted, playful and frequently funny entertainment for a rainy Sunday morming, with Catherine Deneuve, Fabrice Luchini and Gerard Depardieu playing their roles with gusto. Only in the middle of the film were we told that we were in the year 1977, but it was immediately evident from the fashion, the hairstyles, wallpapers, cars and other things - they even did split screens now and then and gave the screen a 70s hue. This film doesn't take itself too seriously and as such is a lot of fun.

8/10

[biggins]

Enjoyed watching this at the Cameo in Edinburgh this morning. Rather quirky, and unexpectedly funnier than I thought it would be. Kept imagining that the policeman from 'Allo, 'Allo would appear as he does in Renee's cafe. 7/10

[tilly]

Just seen this at a packed Clapham picturehouse.

It was a nice film to see on a Sunday morning. It was heartwarming and funny. I was pleased I could understand the French so it was nice there wasn't much slang!

6/10

[stuartboy]

We thorougly enjoyed this, it's light-hearted, playful and frequently funny entertainment for a rainy Sunday morming, with Catherine Deneuve, Fabrice Luchini and Gerard Depardieu playing their roles with gusto. Only in the middle of the film were we told that we were in the year 1977, but it was immediately evident from the fashion, the hairstyles, wallpapers, cars and other things - they even did split screens now and then and gave the screen a 70s hue. This film doesn't take itself too seriously and as such is a lot of fun.

8/10

There was a caption at the start when it told you the name of the town:

Printemps 1977 - Spring 1977.

I guess you were busy watching the squirrel and the rabbits. Lol

[jeanelle]

We enjoyed this very much, funny but not farcical. An interesting set of characters and good performances all round. Nice to see ejwrank and Kaybeelon.

[kevinknapman]

Light and frothy entertainment that were it not for some fantastic lead performances would be fairly forgettable.
If only director Ozon had been a little less interested in getting all the period detail correct and orchestrating the various song and dance numbers that were sprinkled throughout and more interested in creating a more fully rounded and emotionally identifiable script. As a result the film felt a little suffocated by his desire in delivering a pitch-perfect 70's pastiche. Anything approaching depth or emotional resonance was a little lacking.

Thank god for Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu then, the fact they've appeared in eight films together over 30 years giving the relationship more depth than the obviously 2D ciphers in the original script. Both of them were a joy to watch. Some of the remaining cast played it a little too broadly for my liking. And though it was a pleasure to see the excellent Sergi Lopez (Pan's Labyrinth) on the big screen again, it's a shame it was in a such a brief and wordless cameo (he played the truck driver who picks up Deneuve).

There were enough amusing wittier one-liners to keep things bubbling along nicely, though the majority of the audience at the Gate Cinema clearly found it more hilarious than I did. I just found it's style of French farce a little dated and it's characters fairly cliched. The philandering overbearing husband, the more passionate ex-lover, the stuck up daughter, the closeted artistic son. Obviously this just meant that Ozon was successful in his aims of getting the details right but it just made it seem overly familiar. It's based on a 30 year old play and it very clearly shows.

I'm sure it will become a kitsch cult classic for some, but was a little too shallow for my liking. Also a little overlong too. Worth seeing for a couple of excellent lead performances but hard to wholeheartedly recommend.

[ejwrank]

Well we thought it was good fun and really enjoyed it. And hasn't Catherine Deneuve aged a lot better than Gerard Depardieu!

Glad to see jeancomp and her OH and sorry I missed everyone else.

[TheDude]

Despite being predictable and cliched, I thought this was mostly fun to watch, specially for a wet sunday morning. Enjoyed Deneuve's performance, there were a few laughs here and there, but wouldn't rush to see it again.. 6/10.