Notre histoire (1984)
Directed by Bertrand Blier

Film Review

After the highly controversial Beau-père (1981), director Bertrand Blier played it safe with his next film La Femme de mon pote (1983), a lightweight romantic comedy which saw the unlikely pairing of Isabelle Huppert with top comic of the moment, Coluche.  Whilst this latter film was a hit at the French box office, it lacked Blier's iconoclastic touch - something which cannot be said for the film that came next.  Notre histoire marks a return to the more subversive Blier, combining the anarchic humour of Les Valseuses (1974) with the free-format surrealism of Buffet froid (1979).  Whilst it is generally not considered Blier's best work, the film is one of his most uninhibited and offers a portrayal of obsessive love that is compelling and profoundly disturbing, all the more so for the wry anti-bourgeois comedy dressing that Blier liberally scatters over it.

The film probably would not have worked without two very accomplished actors to carry off the complex lead roles, and it is fortunate that Blier was able to call upon the services of two of the best - Alain Delon and Nathalie Baye.  Both actors appear strangely at home in Blier's utterly bizarre fantasy world, and for Delon the film offered a welcome break from his run of tough guy gangster/cop roles that had become the mainstay of his career by this point.  Delon appears to relish every line that Blier gives him and, as a burned out, depressive alcoholic, he turns in a fine tragicomic performance that must surely rate as one of his best.  Baye is no less impressive and it is no accident that, not long after this film, she became one of French cinema's most sought-after and most highly paid actresses.  The Delon-Baye pairing makes Notre histoire one of Blier's most enjoyable films, even if the film suffers from a distinct lack of structure and a tendency to drift too far and too carelessly into the theatre of the absurd.  The distinguished supporting cast includes established performers such as Michel Galabru and Geneviève Fontanel and several actors who were, at the time, practically unknown, but who went on to become major stars of French cinema - Jean Reno, Vincent Lindon, Gérard Darmon and Jean-Pierre Darroussin, all looking implausibly young and hirsute.

Despite Blier's reputation (three of his six previous films had been highly successful) and a flawless central performance from Alain Delon, Notre histore divided the critics and was only a moderate success.  In France, the film attracted an audience of just under 0.9 million, slightly better than Buffet froid but way below the 5.7 million of Les Valseuses.  It was nominated for four Césars in 1985, winning awards for the Best Actor (Alain Delon - his only win to date) and Best Original Screenplay.  Although overshadowed by the great films that Bertrand Blier would subsequently go on to make - Tenue de soirée (1986), Trop belle pour toi (1989) and Merci la vie (1991) - Notre histoire is too good, too weird to overlook.  It should be considered one of the director's more inspired works - a deliriously eccentric existential comedy of manners with shades of Beckett and Ionesco, all tastefully garnished with a deliciously piquant Blier sauce.  As they say in France, miam miam.

Film Synopsis

Robert Avranche is sitting by himself on a train, contemplating the utter pointlessness of his existence, when an attractive young woman enters his compartment and tries to engage him in conversation.  The depressed forty-something is in no mood for socialising but he listens as the stranger tells her story, about a woman who meets a lonely man on a train and invites him to sleep with her.  The hint may not be subtle but it works and at the next stop Robert finds he is following the woman when she leaves the train.  Donatienne - that is her name - invites him back to her chalet-style house and they spend the night together.

The liaison is well-timed for Robert, who has been in a rut lately and wants to forget about the wife and children he has left behind in Paris. Unfortunately, Donatienne has no intention of letting the relationship go any further and, once she has had her fun, she is keen for her lover to take his leave of her.  This is something that Robert is unable to do.  He knows that he cannot just walk away now that he has met someone who seems to be his ideal partner.  Then he discovers the truth about Donatienne.

It appears that the young woman is incapable of devoting herself to one man, so she makes a habit of going to bed with any man who takes her fancy.  As Donatienne's rowdy entourage show up at her home in droves, Robert feels out of place but he still hangs on, curious to find out more about the bewitching siren he met on the train.  In the course of a wild party, he is forced into the bed of a neighbour.  Returning to Donatienne's house, Robert finds that the object of his new obsession has vanished.  He immediately sets out to find her, certain now that he can never let her go...