Peindre ou faire l'amour (2005)
Directed by Arnaud Larrieu, Jean-Marie Larrieu

Film Review

Peindre ou faire l'amour (a.k.a. To Paint or Make Love) is the third full-length film from the Larrieu brothers, whose distinctive brand of auteur cinema continues to divide the critics.  Its partner-swapping theme would perhaps have had a greater resonance in the late 1960s and it is quite daring of the Larrieus to broach such a controversial subject in such a direct manner, although their efforts are somewhat hampered by an approach that feels gratuitously and self-consciously arty - more Claude Lelouch than Eric Rohmer.

On the plus side, the film has a remarkable principal cast consisting of four extremely talented actors, each of whom turns in a very creditable performance whilst making good use of the opportunity to expand his or her personal repertoire.  Of the four, Sabine Azéma is closest to the screen persona she has carefully cultivated over the past two decades, most notably in her films for Alain Resnais (Mélo, Les Herbes folles) - an outgoing, slightly mad exterior wrapped around a vulnerable and complex inner self.  Daniel Auteuil is less comfortable in the more introverted role of Azéma's moody husband but gets to turn in one of his more subtle performances in years.

Sergi López and Amira Casar complete the quartet handsomely, admirably contrasting the seemingly ill-matched Azéma-Auteuil pairing and providing just the right amount of sexual tension and character ambiguity to make the partner-swapping scenario appear plausible.  One interesting quirk of the film is the presence of Sabine Haudepin.  As a young girl, she famously had a small role in Truffaut's Jules et Jim (1962), in which two male friends live together whilst pursuing a harmonious ménage-à-trois love affair with one woman.  By referencing Truffaut's iconic film, Peindre ou faire l'amour seems to be offering itself up as a tribute to that halcyon era of free love.

Regrettably, the quality of the acting is not reflected in the script, which feels a tad superficial and vacuous for the most part.  These shortcomings are painfully emphasised by the Larrieus blithe tendency for Lelouch-like grandiloquence, which includes jarring breaks in the narrative to include over-long panoramic tracking shots across the mountainous location.  This picturesque self-indulgence would have been more bearable if it were not accompanied by incongruous snatches of pop songs from the likes of Jacques Brel, Demis Roussos and Léo Ferré, which make the whole thing appear cheap and tawdry.

Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu are certainly a very capable team of filmmakers, evidenced by their receipt of an honorary Prix Jean Vigo in 2020 for the body of their work to date.  Peindre ou faire l'amour is not a particularly great example of their combined talent, although it deserves some credit for the honesty and sensitivity with which it tackles a subject that has largely been overlooked in cinema.  The deficiencies in the writing are just about made up for by the contributions from the four charismatic and highly sympathetic lead actors, and the visuals, whilst painfully excessive in parts, lend a satisfying lyrical quality to an engaging and provocative drama.

Film Synopsis

William and Madeleine are a happily married couple in their early fifties.  They live in Grenoble, a picturesque town near the French Alps.  William, a mild depressive, works as a meteorologist whilst his hyperactive wife runs a painting company.  One afternoon, Madeleine is painting a picture of a run-down old house in the heart of the nearby Vercors countryside when she is met by Adam, a cultured blind man who happens to be the mayor of a nearby town.

Encouraged by Adam, Madeleine and her husband take a closer look at the house and like it so much that they decide to buy it.  The couple soon become the best of friends with Adam his wife Eva. It isn't long afterwards that the latter find themselves homeless when their own house in accidentally destroyed in a fire.  Madeleine and William welcome the unfortunate couple with open arms into their new home, but this act of generosity has some unexpected consequences.  As Madelaine grows closer to Adam, William finds himself irresistibly drawn to Eva...