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Review
A contemporary of the French New Wave directors, Paul Vecchiali was a film director whose
works were every bit as distinctive, humanist and original as those of Jean-Luc Godard,
Jacques Rivette and François Truffaut. Of the dozen films he made between
1966 and 1996, the one which is probably best remembered is Femmes femmes, a rare
example of a film d’auteur which has acquired a cult status, largely on account
of its now legendary kitsch theme (courtesy of musician Roland Vincent) and the extraordinary
contributions from its two lead actresses, Hélène Surgère and Sonia
Saviange. The great Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini was so taken by what he
saw that he cast these two actresses immediately afterwards in what was to be his final
film, Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom (1975).
It is hard to believe that Hélène Surgère and Sonia Saviange were virtually unknown when they made this film, but it is just as improbable that Vecchiali could have found a better pair of thespians to portray his two tragicomic protagonists. The sisterly rapport between the two women is the thing which, above else, carries the film. As the characters they portray alternate between playful repartee, spiteful bitching and mutual wound-licking, we are entertained, charmed and moved by what we see. Every life is, to some extent, a failure; what is important is how we manage to survive such failures and find the strength to persevere with our lives. Hélène and Sonia take on the challenge in different ways: Hélène lives in a rose-tinted past, but her life continues, champagne glass in one hand, feather duster in the other. Sonia is in denial; she still believes she has a chance to make it big, and so chases after every opportunity that comes her way. It is a witty yet intensely cruel portrait of two contrasting personalities who realise they are slipping inexorably towards oblivion, and who may equally be any one of us. With its modest, understated production values, it is easy to see that Femmes femmes could have worked equally well as a stage play. Virtually all of the narrative takes place in Hélène and Sonia’s apartment, and the film relies more on its script to paint pictures in our mind than clever photography or lavish sets. And what a script – very nearly in the league of Harold Pinter, John Osborne and Jean Cocteau. Although heavy on dialogue and filmed somewhat statically, the film’s two-hour runtime passes very rapidly indeed. So easily are we caught up in the lives of the two principal characters that it is quite a wrench for us to part company with them at the end of the film. Femmes femmes is a sublime example of what can be achieved by a resourceful filmmaker working on a tight budget with a small number of talented actors. © James Travers 2004 Write a review for this film...User Comments
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Director:
Paul Vecchiali
Starring: Hélène Surgère, Sonia Saviange, Michel Duchaussoy, Michel Delahaye, Huguette Forge Synopsis
In their small Parisian apartment overlooking a cemetery, two over-the-hill actresses
take solace in each other’s company against a world which no longer appreciates their
talents. While Sonia perseveres with small acting jobs in commercials and minor
productions, her friend Hélène accepts that her best days are behind her
and so turns to odd jobs such as dressmaking and housecleaning to pay the bills.
At one time, both were married to Julien, one of their former directors, but he has since
re-married, whilst they remain single. The only men in Sonia and Hélène’s
lives are the fleeting apparitions who occasionally visit their apartment – an ironic
doctor, a romantic deliveryman, a lonely man with a perverse fantasy, and others.
With no future to look forward to, the two women resort increasingly to drink to help
ease the pain of their hopeless day-to-day existence...
Credits
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