A delightfully bittersweet Swiss Belgian comedy drama starring François Berléand as Germain, a po-faced widower coping with the loss of his wife Lisa and the unwanted intrusion of his well-meaning loved ones.
The 75-year-old’s grief is sudden and heartfelt, but he hardly has time to recover, what with the constant intrusive phone calls to check on his well-being, not to mention the stream of unsolicited pies and casseroles (which he duly feeds to the cat). Family visits never seem to end and he wonders why his kids are unable to stick to their weekly visiting rota that he could really do without (Carole is Tuesday, Matthieu Friday – or was it the other way round?).
Lise (Dominique Reymond), his much-loved wife of 50 years, was heavily into volunteering and experimental dance in a troupe led by the domineering choreographer La Ribot (playing herself) and in a bid to show willing, Germain feels obliged to take Lise’s place. However, he puts his foot down at the idea of taking on the mentorship of a young student until his daughter insists it will be good for his “mental health”. With a witty script, this is a deadpan tongue-in-cheek story about a man who resolutely refuses to mourn, in the conventional sense, after a lifetime of happiness with his lost love.
Our thanks to Charades for this screening.
