Amour et confusions (1997)
Directed by Patrick Braoudé

Film Review

Patrick Braoudé both directed and starred in this bubbly comedy of manners which, despite its mad comic excesses and general lack of direction, makes a fairly decent stab at portraying the complexities of male-female relationships in the late 1990s. The characterisation may be absurdly over the top but the talented four lead actors give great value for money, particularly Gérard Darmon who is hilarious as the lecherous Don Juan who has absolutely no control over his libido or his groping hands.

Fans of Kristin Scott Thomas will doubtless be delighted by her spirited comic performance in this film - not the kind of role she is best known for. (The film is about as far from The English Patient (1996) as you can imagine.) By contrast, Patrick Braoudé and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi lend a more sombre tone to the proceedings, allowing some serious reflections on how men and women relate to one another at the dawn of the 21st century to find their way into the madcap narrative. An unexpected treat is to see Jeanne Moreau hamming it up as some kind of New Age therapist.  In common with all of Braoudé's films to date, not all of the comedy works, and some of it is positively juvenile.  Amour et confusions may not be up to the standard of Braoudé's previous (and best film) Neuf mois (1994), but where it is funny, it is seriously funny.

Film Synopsis

Dan is a thirty year old divorcee who designs women's lingerie for a living.  One day, he meets Sarah, an ambitious businesswoman who lives only for her work, and they spend the night together.  Afterwards, they lose sight of each other.  As he recounts this adventure to his cousin Simon, Dan manages to convince himself that Sarah is his perfect partner and wonders why she doesn't get in touch with him.  It so happens that Sarah feels the same way about Dan, but she is waiting for him to contact her after having left a message for him in a vase - a vase that just happened to get broken before Dan found the message.  As the days pass, Dan and Sarah both become increasingly upset by the other's reluctance to make contact.  When finally they do manage to meet up again it is hardly the most harmonious of reunions...