Elle s'en va (2013)
Directed by Emmanuelle Bercot

Film Review

Catherine Deneuve goes deliriously A.W.O.L. in this patchy but good-natured road movie, the latest flimsy auteur offering from actress-turned director Emmanuelle Bercot.  It was with her gently provocative coming-of-age dramas La Puce (1999) and Clément (2001) that Bercot found her voice as a filmmaker and her latest film is a coming-of-age drama of an altogether different kind, one in which an implausibly spry sixty-something (Deneuve) regains her zest for living and rediscovers herself - a plot which may conceivably reflect the real-life aspirations of an actress looking for new mountains to climb in the autumn of her career.  The scenario is hardly original and Bercot does appear to be somewhat cliché-prone, but Deneuve's enchanting presence and ballsy performance compensate for most of the film's shortcomings so that Elle s'en va, whilst being far from perfect, makes for an entertaining rehash of some familiar themes.

The film impresses most in its first half, where the sexagenarian heroine does her 'Alice in Wonderland' bit, abandoning her cosy middleclass world and entering a strange, unfamiliar land (i.e. rural Brittany) inhabited by rustic yokels that look like a job lot from a Pier Paolo Pasolini film.  Bercot's decision to cast non-professional actors for the country bumpkin roles smacks of corny self-indulgence and the resulting 'authenticity' that is achieved is more of the kind you would expect to find in a sham documentary rather than anything you would encounter in real life.  It is Deneueve who, surprisingly, prevents it all from going horribly awry, as she seems to establish a genuine rapport with everyone she encounters.  There's little trace of the old ice princess here - this is Deneueve at her most human and likeable.

After this promising beginning things begin to go badly wrong towards the middle of the film, when the heroine is roped into taking care of her estranged daughter's unruly offspring (played by the son of the director and her cinematographer Guillaume Schiffman).  This is where the clichés begin to accumulate at a staggering rate and the narrative switches from scenic but bumpy country lanes to smooth but predictable urban highways.  The carefree spontaneity of the film's first half (a woman in search of meaning in her life) gives way to something far more conventional (a family reconciliation) and it is at this point that it begins to lose its charm.  Bercot's penchant for provocation surfaces in a few scenes but it doesn't stick around long enough to have anything like the impact it did on her earlier films.  Elle s'en va is a light and breezy entertainment which gives Catherine Deneuve the chance to broaden her repertoire but, overlong, uneven and awash with clichés, it isn't as comfortable a ride as it might have been. Bercot would have more success with her next film, La Tête haute (2015), a more conventional coming-of-age piece.

Film Synopsis

In her sixties, Bettie is suddenly confronted with two disasters - being suddenly abandoned by her lover and the impending financial ruin of the family restaurant she runs.  What is she to do with her life?  One day, she gets into her car, planning to take a short drive around the block to mull things over.  But she stays at the wheel and is soon miles from home, with no intention of heading back soon.  Bettie's impromptu flight leads to a series of unexpected encounters and incidents: a party attended by a former Miss France, a chance to re-establish contact with her daughter, the discovery of her grandson, and maybe even a fresh chance of love at the end of her journey.  A whole new future suddenly opens up before...