By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Eléonore Faucher
Starring: Ariane Ascaride | Lola Naymark | Thomas Laroppe
Original language title: Brodeuses
Country: france
Year: 2005
Running time: 89
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387892/combined
Bruce says: “The international title for this film is A COMMON THREAD which is an English translation from the French title, BRODEUSES. With releases already planned in four countries, not to mention having played in six film festivals including Toronto and Cannes (winning two minor awards), one might expect to see it in our theatres as well. Then again when it comes to distribution of a foreign film in America, rarely is there a sure thing.
“Claire (Lola Naymark) is in her late teens and is a check out girl at a large supermarket. She tells her friends she has cancer and wears strange clothes to disguise that fact that she is pregnant. The way her eyes connect with one of the young butchers, we instantly settle the paternity issue. Claire displays no interest in connecting with the father of her child. She is in shock. She ignores her family but sneaks into the family cabbage patch to harvest some marketable produce which she trades for rabbit skins at the local farmer’s market. She used the rabbit skins for an embroidery project. Embroidery is her passion.
“Claire has a brother whose best friend Guillaume (Thomas Laroppe) was in a motorbike accident where a young man was killed. The dead boy’s mother (Ariane Ascaride) is grieving. Claire goes to see her about a job. Mme. Mélikian, once associated with top name Paris fashion houses, still get jobs from Christian Lacroix. Although Claire has managed to fool her own mother, Mme. Mélikian is not fooled for one second about Claire’s pregnancy.
“In the course of several weeks, Claire helps Mme. Mélikian come to terms with her sorrow. Mme. Mélikian, in turn, helps Claire accept her fate. When Claire gives Mme. Mélikian a scarf she has made, Mme. Mélikian lends it to Lacroix as a floor sample. Claire is offended but Mme. Mélikian tells her that ‘it is an honor to have one of your first works chosen by Lacroix.’ Mme. Mélikian helps Claire with the difficult choice of whether to keep her child.
Guillaume and Claire also provide solace for one another in an unusual lovemaking scene where Claire’s obvious pregnancy is hardly ignored.
“BRODEUSES is a simple story. The acting is subtle. Eléonore Faucher has created a lovely atmospheric film. 3.5 cats
This film was shown at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival