LADY JANE

Variety
out=festivals&jump=review&id=2478&revi ewid=VE1117936207
Feb 14 2008
CA

An Agat Films & Cie, France 3 Cinema co-production, with the
participation of Canal Plus, Cinecinema, with the support of La Region
Provence Alpes Cote D’Azur, in association with Le Centre National
de la Cinematographie, Poste Image, Soficinema 3.

(International sales: Films Distribution, Paris.) Produced, directed
by Robert Guediguian. Screenplay, Jean-Louis Milesi, Guediguian.

With: Ariane Ascaride, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Gerard Meylan, Yann
Tregouet, Frederique Bonnal, Jacques Boudet.

By RUSSELL EDWARDS

Violence begets violence and pat homilies in crimer-cum-morality
tale "Lady Jane," from earthy French helmer Robert Guediguian. After
previous efforts "The Journey to Armenia" and "The Last Mitterand,"
which took him onto a broader canvas, helmer returns to the gritty
Marseilles milieu that informed much of his earlier work. Thriller
aspect will likely alienate his fan base outside Gaul, and
international crime buffs will find the yarn too convenient and
unconvincing. Within France, however, combination of esteemed helmer
and noirish flavor is likely to find wide acceptance on April 2008
release.

Pic begins with three masked figures passing out free fur coats
in a Marseilles whorehouse while the soundtrack pumps rebelliously
jaunty electronic-blues music. Story then jumps to shopkeeper Muriel
(Ariane Ascaride) tending to a customer in a perfumerie whose moniker,
Lady Jane, matches a cannabis-leafed tattoo on her wrist. Mid-sale,
Muriel receives a distressing phone call in which, due to cell-phone
technology, she can see that her teenage son is being held at gunpoint.

Upset but outwardly cool, Muriel gets together with her old pals,
shipwright Francois (Jean-Pierre Darroussin) and strip-club owner Rene
(Gerard Meylan), who agree to help her raise the requested ransom.

Gradually, both Francois and Rene show evidence of a criminal past,
and a flashback confirms the three middle-aged protags were the masked
Robin Hoods in the film’s opening. Flashback climaxes with Muriel
revealing her tattoo to their victim, who was obviously chosen to
settle a score, before spitefully executing him.

Link between the killing and the kidnapping is not apparent at
first, but when the exchange of Muriel’s son for the ransom goes
startlingly awry, the connection becomes prematurely obvious. Earlier
taut narrative becomes blatantly schematic, and pic morphs into a
tut-tutting riposte to the sadistic (and more convincing) fatalism
of Michael Haneke’s "Cache". Matched with a ham-fisted resentment of
modern technology, the lecturing tone underlines the suspicion that
Guediguian’s film is too narrowly partisan in all its arguments.

Perfs by helmer’s regular ensemble players Ascaride, Darroussin
and Meylan impress in their emotional scenes and their onscreen
familiarity perfectly projects longtime camaraderie. However, only
the crumple-faced Darroussin is successfully reborn an aging survivor
from a Jean-Pierre Melville crimer.

For a director unaccustomed to thrillers, the action sequences are
well helmed. Fuzzy lensing gives pic a semi-romanticized, somewhat
amateurish hue. Soundtrack eclectically swings from blues to classical
and contempo French pop, but is smartly placed. All other tech credits
are pro.

Camera (color), Pierre Milon; editor, Bernard Sasia; production
designer, Michel Vandestien; sound (Dolby), Laurent Lafran. Reviewed at
Berlin Film Festival (competing), Feb. 12, 2008. Running time: 102 MIN.