By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Siegrid Alnoy
Starring: Carlo Brandt | Catherine Mouchet | Sasha Andres
Original language title: Elle est des nôtres
Country: france
Year: 2004
Running time: 100
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0370531/combined
Bruce says: “ELLE EST DES NOTRES is a very black comedy although it is billed as drama. Christine (Sasha Andres) is an unemployed office worker getting temp jobs wherever she can. To cover up her precarious employment situation she often tells white lies. It doesn’t take long for the viewer to realize Christine is likely a pathological liar, she just can’t help herself. Not that any gesture on her part would provide a clue. It is difficult to remember any character so detached from her surroundings. She’s almost detached from the film itself.
“Christine is befriended by Patricia (Catherine Mouchet) a woman who handles the office temp placements at the Temp Agency. Christine attempts to chat Patricia up. Patricia is very forthcoming about her personal life. When she says her hobby is collecting owls, Christine pops up with, ‘Oh, I collect owls, too.’ The benefit of being in the audience is that we know better. Not Patricia.
“Patricia has a fight with her husband and Christine invites her for dinner to console her. Oops, what to do regarding the lie about the owls? Not to worry, Christine goes out and buys herself an entire owl collection. The dinner is over the top and Patricia is impressed. Later Patricia attempts to reciprocate by buying Christine a two piece bathing suit since she had looked so tacky in one-piece suits in the album photos on the coffee table. Off to the local piscine where Christine changes into the new bathing suit. Believe it or not, Christine actually looks worse in the two-piece than she did in the one- piece in the photos. It doesn’t fit. Self conscious, Christine dawdles poolside when some rowdy boys accidentally knock her into the water. She almost drowns and when she finally climbs out of the pool, she is frantic. She does not feel so kindly towards Patricia after this ordeal.
“One of the offices where Christine temps offers her a permanent job. She accepts. Soon she is going out with the gang for drinks and suddenly has a live-in boyfriend. Things are looking up? Not exactly. Two bumbling policemen arrive to ask questions about Christine involvement in some sticky business. Emotionless, she provides minimal information. Soon the chief of police (Carlo Brandt) himself arrives on the scene and attempts to penetrate her icy veneer. Brandt gave a memorable performance along
with Catherine Deneuve in INDOCHINE.
“Enough about the plot. This is one of those films that is best described as ‘off the wall.’ ‘Off the wall’ happens to be a favorite genre of mine if it pushes the right buttons. The French do ‘off the wall’ with great panache and Alnoy delivers. Not everyone felt the same as I, according to those I met at subsequent screenings during the festival. Chacon a son gout. 4.5 cats”