Un divan à New York (1996)
Directed by Chantal Akerman

Film Review

Twenty years into her distinguished career, Belgian auteur Chantal Akerman took a break from her customary minimalist realistic dramas to attempt an American-style comedy that would appear to be more at home in the oeuvre of Ernst Lubitsch or Woody Allen.  Un divan à New York certainly lacks the originality and gravitas of Akerman's earlier work, which is presumably why most of the critics gave it a mauling, but it manages to be an enjoyable digression and beneath the surface humour Akerman's favourite themes (notably alienation in the modern world) are easily discernible.

It was in the 1970s that the filmmaker first made an impact, with daringly original pieces such as Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) and Les Rendez-vous d'Anna (1978).  Golden Eighties (1986) was a rare departure into musical comedy, of the Jacques Demy variety.  After the critical failure of Un divan à New York, Akerman managed to win back her critics with La Captive (2000), an inspired adaptation of Marcel Proust's La Prisonnière.

Taking the romantic lead roles in Akerman's rom-com are Juliette Binoche and William Hurt, two charismatic performers who have just thr right chemistry to make the film work as a light-hearted crowdpleaser.  Although barely a decade into her career, Binoche was already a leading light of French cinema with an international profile, through such films as Leos Carax's Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (1991), Krzysztof Kies'lowski's Throis couleurs trilogy (1993) and Peter Kosminsky's Wuthering heights (1992).

Un divan à New York gave Binoche a welcome opportunity to develop her skills as a comedic actress, although she appears slightly ill-at-ease in her role as a seemingly dim and naïve opportunist.  Neither of the lead actors is particularly well-served by the dialogue, which sounds cheesy and is prone to cliché, and the film's structural flaws become painfully evident in its second half.  That said, Akerman directs the film with panache and whilst she may not have proved herself the equal of Woody Allen she nonetheless turns in a film that is both engaging and entertaining.

Film Synopsis

Henry Harriston, a successful psychoanalyst living in New York City decides he needs a break from the constant daily grind of attending to other people's bruised psyches.  He arranges an apartment swap with a Parisian dancer, Béatrice, although he soon realises that he has made a terrible mistake.  Whereas he is wealthy and impeccably tidy, Béatrice is poor, untidy, and, it turns out, something of a heart-breaker.  Newly installed in New York, Béatrice can hardly believe her good fortune and before she knows it she is busy psychoanalysing Henry's patients.  When Henry turns up at his apartment unexpectedly, Béatrice mistakes him for a patient and starts to offer him treatment.  Henry, realising he is love with Béatrice, feels compelled to go along with the deception...