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Deuxième quinzaine de juillet
2000 Comedy / Drama
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Credits
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Director: Christophe Reichert
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Script: Philippe Blasband, Christophe Reichert
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Photo: Yves Cape
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Music: Michel Barrier, Jeff Bodart, Olivier Bodson, Pierre Gillet
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Cast: Michèle Bernier (Monique),
Zinedine Soualem (Félix),
Vanessa Jarry (Anne-Claire),
Guillaume Gouix (Kevin),
Patrick Zimmermann (Pozzini),
Sofiane Belmouden (Fabrice),
Frederik Imbo (Wim),
Colette Maire (La tante),
Laurent Spielvogel (M. Paul),
Dany (M. Fichefet),
Daniel Cap (M. Maes),
Sam Touzani (M. De Haan),
Lorette Goosse (Mme De Haan)
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Country: France
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Language: French
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Runtime: 92 min
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Summary
Monique is surprised when her weak-willed and indecisive partner Félix takes the
initiative by planning the summer holidays one year. The couple will swap their
cramped city apartment for a villa in the countryside. The dream soon turns into
a nightmare, however. In addition to being burdened with a troublesome nephew and
the boss’s wayward dog, Félix and Monique discover that their holiday home
is in a dilapidated state and in the middle of a noisy campsite. The couple try
to make the best of things, but then Félix is drawn into an affair with a teenage
girl…
Review
Holidays going badly wrong is a recurring theme in French cinema, and whilst there have
been a few reasonably good films of this ilk, the majority follow a familiar formula involving
irritating children, bad weather, relationship meltdown and extra-marital affairs.
Deuxième quinzaine de juillet belongs
squarely to this latter category, a good-natured but hardly original comedy-drama which
is handicapped by a lacklustre script and some inexperienced direction (although, in all
fairness, this is Christophe Reichert’s
first film).
Michèle Bernier and Zinedine Soualem work well together as the stereotypical
domineering wife and weak, immature husband, with Soualem showing great promise as a comic
former in some of the film’s lighter moments. However, their on-screen relationship
is so evidentially a caricature, like so much of the film, that very little actually rings
true. The plot is generally as unconvincing as the characterisation, and this is
mainly down to some weak dialogue rather than the acting. There are a few moments
of great comedy, and a few of real sincerity and tenderness, but these are cruelly diminished
by the awkward narrative style and a general lack of discipline in the direction and scripting.
© James Travers 2005
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