En avoir (ou pas) (1995)
Directed by Laetitia Masson

Film Review

Laetitia Masson's first full-length film is a gritty portrayal of survival and the search for personal fulfilment in an unforgiving world where individual freedom is cruelly restrained by the harsh economic realities of life. It is bleakly realist film in which promising newcomer Sandrine Kiberlain gives a searingly authentic portrayal of a young woman who, though driven to the edge by circumstances beyond her control, never loses the will to go on fighting as she pursues her elusive dreams.

Kiberlain won an award at the 1996 Césars for her performance as the main protagonist Alice (in the Most Promising Actress category). In the film, her mother is played by the esteemed filmmaker Claire Denis, author of such critically acclaimed works as Beau travail (1999). Kiberlain's co-star Arnaud Giovaninetti also has an arresting presence and seems to be just as well-suited for this kind of downbeat minimalist drama, although most of his subsequent work is in television, including the French TV series Doc Martin and Candice Renoir.

En avoir (ou pas) clearly marks Masson out as one of the wave of impressive auteur filmmakers to emerge in France in the 1990s, and she would live up to the promise of her first feature with her subsequent films, most notably À vendre (1998) (again starring Kiberlain) and Pourquoi (pas) le Brésil (2004).

Film Synopsis

When she loses her job at a fish canning factory, Alice, a young woman from a socially deprived background, decides to make some major changes in her life.  She leaves her seaside home and boyfriend and takes the train to Lyons, where she hopes to find a new job.  In the hotel she is staying at she meets Bruno, a man of about her own age who has also just been made redundant.  Although Alice and Bruno are attracted to one another, their recent experiences prevent them from starting a relationship...