«Amoureux de ma femme» - Movie Review by Kinoafisha
A novel, served as dinner.
When the French have nothing particularly significant to say, they talk about love. Well, not exactly love. Rather, about passion and life conveniences, which often contradict each other. Undoubtedly, this theme is international and fertile ground for developing ideas. But is it worth transferring this idea to the big screen?
"The Other Woman" is an adaptation of a play by the incredibly popular and fashionable French playwright Florian Zeller, who himself rewrote it into a screenplay. But even if we skip this credit, the theatrical conventionality of the existence of the four characters is evident from the very first dialogue. They are not people but rather characters. It's reminiscent of the famous Russian "talking" men, where on stage they can only play out their examples and fantasies with their voices, while in cinema, they have a grand piano and Germans acting like a pig.
"The Other Woman" is essentially a conversational comedy. Two old friends meet for dinner, one of whom has exchanged his wife's best friend for a young mistress. The wife and mistress are also present. This dinner and the accompanying conversations set off a chain of events that will change the life... one might say, of all the characters, but perhaps most significantly, only one - Daniel, played by Daniel Auteuil, who also directed the film.
And this knowledge that the lead actor is also the director is impossible to ignore. "The Other Woman" appears to be a reflection of a well-off Frenchman in his 60s, just like Auteuil himself and his partner Gérard Depardieu. Like the ladies from "The Book Club," Daniel and Patrick from "The Other Woman" represent a rare image of a prosperous retiree for Russian audiences. Everything in this film looks beautiful and expensive. Although it's clear that one of the friends is wealthier than the other, which also becomes the subject of gossip at the dining table. And when that key problem in life is resolved, one can reflect on how to truly live. And maybe even steal women from each other.
French cinema, in this regard, adheres to the broadest perspectives. So broad, in fact, that in the frame alongside Gérard Depardieu, there is a place for the delicate presence of Adriana Ugarte, a Spanish film star, who appeared in Pedro Almodóvar's film in 2016. It is understood that Depardieu is a well-known name. However, it is no longer associated with French elegance and masculine beauty. Therefore, the Russian viewer, whose mind has been tainted by sensationalist tabloids, refuses to accept the fact that a beautiful young Spanish woman does not cringe after every kiss with him, and does not do it solely for a vacation in Ibiza. "The Other Woman" broadcasts the idea from the screen that having active relationships in every sense at any age is normal. Not only with a mistress, as if everything encourages and obliges, but also with one's own wife portrayed by the luxurious Sandrine Kiberlain. These women are perfect opposites, as is customary in theater: to immediately highlight the difference.
Based on all these descriptions, it seems that viewers can expect a typical and optional French comedy. But it's not quite like that. In the semi-theatrical existence and within the genre of comedy, director Daniel Auteuil managed to set the French eccentricity regulator to an elusive and precise level. When all the actors contort and pose a little, and all emotions are exaggerated, it doesn't repel or annoy, because, well, it's a comedy, after all. Perhaps a significant factor in this is the fact that part of the film unfolds in Daniel's fantasies, where it is easier to accept clichéd plans, banal dialogues, and broad gestures. Or perhaps Auteuil truly succeeded in taming this challenging genre, while remaining within the traditions of his local cinema.
To call "The Other Woman" a must-see film would be an exaggeration. Even for those, especially for those who loved movies with Gérard Depardieu in their youth. However, this film is so beautiful and unobtrusive that it simply begs to be recommended, to go and see it in the cinema before a Saturday dinner in a restaurant. Of course, a French one.
