Movie: Complètement Cramé!

After the book, the film! Yes! Yes! Yes! Well, maybe you don’t share my joy, or at least not yet, but I didn’t even think I’d see this day arrive. If you haven’t already seen my article from last week, today’s film is an adaptation of the book of the same name. The director is none other than the author, Gilles Legardinier, and if you haven’t guessed, he is one of my favorite writers. Although I don’t know if the book has an English version, the film has just been released in France. You will probably have to wait a little for English-speaking countries. But the film in all this? Come on, let’s move on.

Summary: Andrew Blake is no longer young, elected best entrepreneur of the year in London in spite of himself, his wife passed away and their daughter living abroad, he no longer has the taste for anything . He decides to go to France, his wife’s native country, to a mansion lost in the countryside. There he meets Odile, the cook with the sharp eye, Manon, the part-time student, Philippe, the somewhat boorish forest ranger and Mme Beauvillier, mistress of the house but who very rarely sets foot in outside the walls of her room. Andrew was looking for a place of retirement, he found himself involved in this sinking manor and the special life of its inhabitants.

The summary of the novel and the film is the same since it is the same story. So…

This is where the eternal debate of who is better, screen or paper, comes into play. From my point of view, I absolutely love both. Of course, there will be some beloved scenes missing from the novel, that’s because it’s difficult to put everything on a movie reel (I know that’s not really the case anymore, but damn!). The film is almost two hours long, so you have to know how to make sacrifices. I would have enjoyed seeing some secondary characters however, I was able to enjoy my cinema moment despite everything.

The choice of John Malkovich to play the main character is magnificent. I don’t really know his level of French before filming in this adaptation, however, it was excellent in the eyes of the amateur that I am. His accent, his acting, what more can I say? The others were also perfect, however, I was more interested in the character of Andrew Blake, because it is not easy to find a real British actor to play in the language of Molière throughout a film.

The particularity of Gilles Legardinier, as an author, is to not describe his characters physically, or very little. He will rather talk about the impression they give or their way of being (laughing eyes, a pursed mouth, hunched shoulders, a dancing gait…). You will rarely see a detailed description (unless necessary) on the color of their hair, if they are thick, thin… Some might believe that something is missing to represent the hero or his friend, but not at all. Everyone can thus imagine the character with the physique they want and this represents more room for maneuver during a cinematographic adaptation. For example, I didn’t see Andrew Blake with John Malkovich’s physique at all and yet. However, it didn’t shock me at all, because the spirit of the hero was there.

Well, I could spend hours discussing the work of Gilles Legardinier, making a comparison between his work as an author and director, but that would take a little too much time to write it and for you a little too much reading. Let’s stop there for today.

Will you enjoy this British cookie with French chips?