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Enfants de salaud
1996 Comedy / Drama
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Credits
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Director: Tonie Marshall
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Script: Jacky Cukier, Tonie Marshall
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Photo: Dominique Chapuis
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Music: Vincent Malone
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Cast: Anémone (Sylvette),
Nathalie Baye (Sophie),
François Cluzet (Sandro),
Molly Ringwald (Susan),
Jean Yanne (Julius),
Vincent Elbaz (Napo),
Luis Marquès (Antonio),
Mapi Galán (Femme à l'aéroport),
Micheline Presle (Mère de sophie),
Patrick Bauchau (Pierre-Yves)
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Country: France
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Language: French
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Runtime: 100 min
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Aka: Bastard Brood
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Summary
When Julius Mandenne is put on trial for the unspeakably gruesome murder of his lady friend,
his past comes back to haunt him in the guise of his four illegitimate children, each
the product of a brief liaison with a different woman. Sophie, Sylvette, Susan and
Sandro – the four half-siblings who hadn’t previously met – are each equally interested
in finding out more about each other and what could possibly have motivated their father
to kill someone in such a macabre and senseless fashion. Whilst Sando, a mechanic
and committed Christian, succumbs to the temptation of Susan, a glamorous young actress
with a tough feminist streak, Sophie decides that Sylvette, a naïve waitress-cum-stripper,
is just what she needs to re-ignite her husband’s dormant conjugal appetite.
After several interviews with his unwanted offspring, Julius decides the time has come
to bequeath his fortune – to Sylvette. Or so it would seem…
Review
Enfants de salaud is the third full-length film
from actress-turned director Tonie Marshall, an entertaining comedy featuring some of
the best acting talent in French cinema. The film's biggest draw is the much-loved
actor/comedian Jean Yanne who plays a Gallic version of Hannibal Lecter, a more obviously
comical portrayal of contained insanity and unscrupulousness than Anthony Hopkins’ admittedly,
but one that still evokes sympathy and menace by the bucket load. Tonie Marshall
certainly knows how to assemble a great cast and here she surpasses herself. Anémone,
Nathalie Baye, Molly Ringwald and François Cluzet make a superlative quartet, each
actor revelling in the director's screwball universe where the most improbable of relationships
are forged and characters find their comfortable world torn inside-out by unexpected developments
– often with a gratifying sense of truth and irony. Marshall’s real-life mother,
the legendary actress Micheline Presle, makes a brief but arresting cameo appearance.
Less coherent and realistic than Tonie Marshall’s other films, Enfants
de salaud is nonetheless an enjoyable romp with some great comic moments.
It is a film which offers a valid reflection on contemporary life, about how men and women
(clearly the end-result of two completely separate processes of evolution) relate to one
another in the post-feminist, post-industrial, post-just-about-everything era, and about
how individuals cope with the demise of the nuclear family and make alternative social
structures. It's an honest portrayal of life as it is now lived - random, messy
and full of answered questions - with an edge of dark cynicism and more than a soupçon
of provocative slapstick.
© James Travers 2007
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