Le Zèbre
1992 Comedy / Romance
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Credits
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Summary
Hippolyte and Camille have been married for 15 years and although they still love each
other Hippolyte is anxious that the passion in their relationship is waning. Camille
also feels that she is in a rut and becomes excited when she begins to receive amorous
letters from a secret admirer. She is not pleased when she discovers that this turns
out to be a ruse by her husband to try to rekindle their former passion. When the
scheme backfires, Hippolyte resorts to ever more dramatic gestures to ensure that his
love life with Camille will never fade...
Review
Le Zèbre is the one and only directorial offering from actor/writer Jean
Poiret, who is best known for scripting the original stage version of La Cage aux folles
. A disorientating mix of zany comedy and melodrama, the film lacks coherence
and is not entirely satisfying, but the spirited contributions from Thierry Lhermitte
and Caroline Cellier give it a fair smattering of panache and entertainment value.
The film’s biggest fault is its unconvincing dramatic ending, which is clumsily hampered
by the kind of unpardonable sentimentality that is all too common in American films of
this genre but which remains, mercifully, rare in French films. Ironically, Poiret
died shortly after the film was made and so was unable to make the impact as a film director
that he had already made as both a writer and actor.
© James Travers 2004 Write a review for this film... |
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