Rien sur Robert (1999)
Directed by Pascal Bonitzer

Film Review

This well scripted romantic comedy makes a perfect vehicle for Fabrice Luchini, one of France's most cultivated actors.  It looks as if the film may well have been conceived with Luchini in mind, so perfectly cast is he in the part of an ego-centric writer who is singularly incapable of coping with the bizarre turns his life is taking. The actor (who previously impressed in Eric Rohmer's Perceval le Gallois (1978) and Les Nuits de la pleine lune (1984)) is in in his element, relishing his part in an intellectual comedy of the kind that Woody Allen might be proud to claim as his own.

Surprisingly, Rien sur Robert is only the second film to be directed by Pascal Bonitzer, although it is worth noting that his credits as an actor and screenwriter date back to the late 1970s. A former critic on the Cahiers du cinéma, he has lent his talents as a scribe to such esteemed auteurs as Jacques Rivette and André Téchiné, on such films as Jeanne la Pucelle (1994) and Ma saison préférée (1993). Not only is Bonitzer's sophomore offering as a director intelligently scripted, it also comes with a bountiful supply of Gallic charm. Bonitzer's approach is similar to that of Rohmer, but with a somewhat more acidic edge to his humour.

If the film delights with its script, it positively dazzles with its performances.  In addition to the aforementioned Fabric Luchini, Sandrine Kiberlain and Valentina Cervi are captivating as the two women in Didier's life, and there are some pleasing contributions from actors as diverse as Michel Piccoli, Laurent Lucas, Bernadette Lafont and Edouard Baer.

And if you are wondering where the Robert of the film's title fits into all this, he doesn't - except in a fleeting reference to the French surrealist poet Robert Desnos, who might conceivably have been amused by the film's skilful wordplay and occasional surreal flights of fancy.

Film Synopsis

A middle-aged film critic's life is turned upside down when his younger wife leaves him to start an affair with a TV director.  The critic, Didier Temple, finds himself the victim of unfair criticism of those around him - the most vituperative assault coming from Lord Ariel Chatwick-West when Didier arrives uninvited at his dinner party.  Whilst trying to make an embarrassed exit from that party, Didier is ensnared by Chatwick-West's beautiful niece, Aurélie, and starts a wild romance with her, without realising that she has another boyfriend, the more successful writer Jérôme.  Things get unbearably complicated when Didier's wife returns to him and Aurélie turns out to be slightly deranged...