En ville (2011)
Directed by Valérie Mréjen, Bertrand Schefer

Film Review

The feature debut from the unlikely partnership of writer-artist Valérie Mréjen and philosopher Bertrand Schefer is a strangely elusive study in middleclass ennui that proves to be as frustratingly vague and listless as it sounds.  Through the hesitant relationship between a middle-aged photographer (Stanislas Merhar) and a young arts student (Lola Créton), which presumably mirrors that of the film's two authors, En ville evokes the spiritual and emotional wilderness which characterises our present era and which only art, in its various manifestations, can save us from.  Feeling like a short film that has been stretched too far into a full-length feature, En ville fights an uphill battle to maintain the viewer's interest and ultimately fails, although it clearly has something valid to say about the arid nature of life as experienced by most affluent people in the developed West today.  Virtually absent from our screens for much of the past decade, Stanislas Merhar has matured into a fine actor perfectly suited to intimate auteur dramas of this kind - his subdued but powerfully expressive performance is the film's main asset.  Comparative newcomer Lola Créton also shows considerable promise and looks set for better things, if the charismatic presence and acting skill she offers up in this film are anything to go by.

Film Synopsis

Iris, 16, lives in a small provincial town.  Here, she meets Jean, a 40-something photographer from Paris.  They strike up an immediate rapport and begin to nurture a friendship that will transform both of their lives...