Des vents contraires (2011)
Directed by Jalil Lespert

Film Review

One of the most worrying sociological trends in recent years is a declining recognition of the value of specialisation in all spheres of human activity.   The prevailing mindset (in education, the workplace, etc.) seems to be that it is far better to be reasonably competent at a broad range of things than excellent at just a few.  One area where this trend is particularly noticeable is that of cinema.  In the past, those involved in filmmaking tended to stick to their own sphere of expertise, and so individuals gravitated to those areas for which they had a natural talent and were able to develop that talent to its fullest.  Recently, however, the craze for generalisation has led established actors, writers, editors, critics and just about anyone who happens to pass a film set to try their hand at directing, and in most cases you can't help lamenting the waste of time and celluloid.  It takes more than ego to make a film that is worth watching, and yet everyone seems to want to be a film director these days.

Jalil Lespert is just one of many highly respected French actors to turn to film directing in recent years.  Undeterred by the lukewarm reaction to his debut feature 24 Mesures (2007) he persevered and served up a second tepid helping of direction-by-numbers, although this time the critics were generally kinder to him.  Des vents contraires is by no means a bad film, but it lacks finesse and ambition and could pass for a rather mundane television film.  Anyone who has seen Lespert perform in such films as Ressources humaines (1999), Vivre me tue (2002) and Le Petit lieutenant (2005) cannot fail to appreciate his talent as an actor, but from his first two directing efforts it is evident that he has no special aptitude for filmmaking.

Des vents contraires (a.k.a. Headwinds) is based on a best-selling novel by Olivier Adam and follows two other more successful adaptations of his work: Jean-Pierre Améris' Poids léger (2004) and Philippe Lioret's Je vais bien, ne t'en fais pas (2006).  The fact that Adam collaborated on the screenplay is a definite plus, although the narrative could have benefited from a little judicious pruning.  The abundance of secondary characters and half-developed subplots detracts from the central story strand and weakens the film, which would have done better to focus on the central character, whose life is complicated enough to warrant the extra attention.  (The characters played by Ramzy Bedia and Bouli Lanners, whilst interesting, are an unnecessary distraction.)  The uneven narrative prevents the film from cohering into a satisfying whole and it ends up being torn between being a realist family drama and a rather lame mystery thriller.

Lespert's direction is at best workmanlike, at worst shockingly complacent.  With more careful editing, many of the faults could have been corrected, but often the editing is as clueless as the direction, so that many scenes feel badly paced and overlong.   The film's one saving grace is that it is very well cast and the failings in the direction and writing are, to a large degree, compensated for by the credible performances supplied by the top-notch cast.  Benoît Magimel (who incidentally starred in Lespert's first film) is convincing as the broken down father who is compelled to try to rebuild his life when his wife (Audrey Tautou) mysteriously disappears.  Magimel is at his best when he plays neurotic, fragile outsiders, and so the part Lespert gives him allows him to play to his strengths.  Antoine Duléry is even more impressive in the role of Magimel's older brother, a character that deserves to have been developed further and given greater focus (even at the expense of removing some of the lesser characters).  Josée Deshaies' cinematography is probably the film's strongest suit - the rugged Breton setting is beautifully captured and effectively reflects the changing inner moods of the main protagonist.  David Moreau's score provides a similar function and adds greatly to the film's muted lyricism.

Des vents contraires has all the failings you would expect to find in a first film from a less than confident filmmaker, but it also a certain amount of charm.  To its credit, whilst it is occasionally saccharine in places, it never gets overly sentimental and the restrained performances prevent it from degenerating into soap-style melodrama (well, almost).  The plot is the main stumbling block - there are too many kingsize loaves in the oven (which someone appears to have forgotten to light) and the ending is just too contrived to be taken seriously.  All the same, a film that boasts the combined talents of Benoît Magimel, Isabelle Carré and Audrey Tautou cannot be all bad, and whilst the end result is far from perfect it is a reasonably satisfactory timewaster.  However, you can't help wishing that Jalil Lespert had stuck with what he does best.  We can't all be Cecil B DeMille...

Film Synopsis

Paul Anderen, a writer living in Paris, has his life turned upside down when his wife Sarah suddenly goes missing.  After a year of fruitless searching, Paul is a broken man.  His only hope is to try and start a new life with his two young children in Saint-Malo, the town in Brittany where he grew up.  His older brother gives him a job as an instructor in his driving school and he is soon pursuing an affair with a younger woman.  Just when Paul appears to be getting his life back on track he starts receiving anonymous phone calls.  He persuades the police to reopen the case into his missing wife...