Comme une image (2004)
Directed by Agnès Jaoui

Film Review

Agnès Jaoui's second film, after the hugely successful Le Goût des autres (2000), is this mordant social satire, in which the successful writing team of Jaoui and her real-life partner Jean-Pierre Bacri once again make some wry observations on our society and the way people behave to try to better themselves.  It may lack the charm, humour and popular appeal of Le Goût des autres, but Comme une image is nonetheless a well-crafted contemporary drama, with some commendable performances.   As Lolita, Marilou Berry (famously the daughter of actress-director Josiane Balasko) takes on her first substantial screen role, and fares rather well, almost eclipsing the contributions from established actors such as Jaoui and Bacri.

Film Synopsis

Lolita is the twenty-year-old daughter of busy publisher Etienne Cassard, a man who is so wrapped up in himself that he fails to notice anything outside his own personal ambit.  Her father's lack of interest in her does little fof Lolita's sagging self-confidence.  She has ambitions of becoming a successful actress and concert singer but feels that these aspirations will be thwarted by her somewhat dowdy appearance.  The young woman desperately needs encouragement, and this she finds in Sylvia Miller, her music teacher.  Sylvia happens to be the wife of one of Etienne's most highly prized writers, Pierre, and she hopes that through her influence over Lolita she will find a way to encourage Etienne to publish his latest book.  Of course Lolita has no idea that she is being manipulated for personal gain and, her ego boosted by Sylvia's kind words of support, she carries on with her life and soon makes the acquaintance of an amiable young man, Sébastien.  For once, Lolita appears to have found a man who likes her for who she is instead of who she is related to.  Maybe her appearance isn't as important as she was led to believe...