Having missed the wonderful A Very Long Engagement at the Rex Cinema in Berkhamsted, I made sure I had a ticket for the French movie driving Madeleine. Which was fortunate as the auditorium was packed, very unusual as foreign films normally show to a sparse audience. The vast majority were elderly ladies, not quite the age of Madeleine's ninety two. The film begins with Dany Boon's Charles driving his taxi around Paris, twelve hours a day, six days a week. What with his obvious financial troubles, he is sullen and angry man. His latest fare is obviously Madeleine played by the brilliant Line Renaud. She basically hires him for the day, visiting old haunts on her way to the first day at her retirement home. Queue beautiful images of the city, particularly later in the dark.
Madeleine tells Charles her story, well those years leading up to her late twenties. Not all sweetness and light by any means. The love of her life, a GI, leaves at the end of the war with a pregnant Madeleine. Then a violent husband. So a life in flashback with the gorgeous Alice Isaaz as the young Madeleine. Charles eventually warms to her story, and here we are listening, like him, with no prior knowledge of who he is actually driving around Paris.
A very different film to Driving Miss Daisy, much darker in parts. The contrast of personalities works really well, the verbosity of Madeleine and the quiet Charles. Christian Carion has directed from a script he wrote with Cyril Gely. They have produced a quite fabulous and emotional movie. There are two songs: "At Last" by Etta James and "This Bitter Earth" by Dinah Washington.
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