Dieu seul me voit (1998)
Directed by Bruno Podalydès

Film Review

With one popular short film under his belt, the enjoyable Versailles Rive-Gauche (1992), director Bruno Podalydès makes his feature debut with Dieu seul me voit, a sequel of sorts to this earlier film. The director's brother Denis - a well-known and well-regarded actor - not only takes the lead role, a likeable Woody Allen-style inadequate, but also had a large hand in the writing of the film, which very nearly ended up as an eight-hour long magnum opus. Ultimately, the film was pared back to a more marketable two-hour long feature, although a longer version comprising six one-hour long episodes and entitled Dieu seul me voit, version interminable was released as a DVD box set in 2008.

Dieu seul me voit is a light romantic comedy that can hardly fail to please, the Podalydès brothers' quirky and often absurdist humour bringing a fresh, unfamiliar edge to a well-worn genre. Denis Podalydès' well-meaning but seemingly doomed attempts to find his ideal woman are a delight to watch but the main attraction are some unexpected excursions towards the surreal, such as a bizarre blood donor sequence. The icing on the cake is the final segment of the film in which our unsuccessful Don Juan attempts to ply a splendiferous Jeanne Balibar with his self-effacing charms - it's like watching a ritual sacrifice in slow motion. A commercial and critical success, the film was honoured with the César for the Best First Work in 1999. A decade on, the Podalydès brothers would complete their Versailles trilogy with Bancs publics (Versailles rive droite) (2009).

Film Synopsis

Albert, a shy absent-minded sound engineer, is coming to a mid-life crisis.  Despite his best attempts, he still has not found the woman of his dreams - but that looks set to change.  Whilst working on a political campaign in Toulouse, he meets a nurse, Sophie, who draws him into a romantic liaison which ends when her ex-boyfriend makes an unwelcome return.  Later, back in Paris, he has a one-night stand with a police woman, Corine, without realising that their night of passion is being relayed by his mobile phone to her jealous boyfriend.  Then there is the dinner date with a documentary film maker Anna, which looks promising, until Albert starts to have an uncontrollable fit of vomiting...