Nos batailles (2018)
Directed by Guillaume Senez

Film Review

In Nos batailles (Our Struggles), Belgian-born director Guillaume Senez follows up his well-received debut feature Keeper (2015) with a similarly well-drawn slice-of-life depicting an ordinary man facing up to the daunting responsibilities of fatherhood.  In this, he is handsomely assisted by a committed cast of professional and non-professional actors headed by the indispensable Romain Duris, whose appeal to both mainstream and art house audiences shows no sign of abating soon.  With its honest depiction of the precariousness nature of family life and its damning allusions to the misery caused by large corporations, Nos batailles is a timely film with a powerful social resonance.

Although he made his screen debut back in 1994 in Cédric Klapisch's cult coming-of-age piece Le Péril jeune, it wasn't until he landed the lead role in Jacques Audiard's De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté (2006) that Romain Duris acquired international recognition as one of the finest actors of his generation.  After this early success, roles were too easy to come by and the actor's talents were often squandered in films that were way beneath his abilities.  In Nos batailles, Duris reaffirms his acting prowess in a role - possibly his best so far - that allowed him to fashion a new and somewhat more appealing screen persona, departing from the insouciant charmer that has, of late, grown a tad wearisome.  In this, he shows a long overdue return to the generous authenticity of his early collaborations with Tony Gatlif (Gadjo dilo, Je suis né d'une cigogne).

As the single father and committed union rep trying to do what is best for his demanding offspring and hard-pressed co-workers, Duris presents us with a model of the modern man that is both true-to-life and endearing.  Although his resolve is tested to breaking point on more than a view occasions, both in the home and in the workplace, his character Olivier shows a good-natured resilience that you cannot help warming to, even if the strains and stresses are all too visible.  Olivier's fragility and domestic ineptitude are made all the more apparent by the bevy of female protagonists who come to his aid and who seem to be better equipped at coping with life's calamities - his mother (Dominique Valadié), his sister (Lætitia Dosch) and colleague-cum-girl friend (Laure Calamy).

Films about women struggling with the demands of single parenthood are two a penny.  Senez's film is a timely reminder that, in today's high-pressured, increasingly fractured world, the situation is no longer the preserve of the fair sex - men are just as likely to be running a single parent household.  By combining intimate melodrama and social realism, Nos batailles offers a convincing foray into a pattern of life that is becoming all too familiar, but doing so with as much charm as sobering reality.  There are some pretty dark moments along the way, but overall the tone of the film is upbeat, and Senez lives up to the promise of his debut feature with another portrait of ordinary life that is even more intensely involving and true to life.

Film Synopsis

Olivier has enough to cope with at work for him to take on the additional responsibilities of fatherhood.  Fortunately, he can rely on his wife Laura to shoulder most of the burden of raising their two young children, Elliot and Rose.  Overseeing a  packaging department for a big online retailer, Olivier's main concern is the welfare of his overworked colleagues, whose interests he strives to safeguard in his capacity as their union representative.  His dismay at failing to prevent one of his older colleagues from being dismissed is compounded by the sudden disappearance of his wife.  She has left no indication where she has gone or when she might return, so Olivier now faces the grim prospect of having to bring up his children by himself.  Luckily, he can count on the support of his mother and sister Betty, but even with their help Olivier discovers it isn't easy being a single parent in your forties...