By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Xavier Giannoli
Starring: Catherine Salviat | Julian Bouvard | Laura Smet | Marie Denarnaud | Maurice Antoni | Nicolas Duvauchelle
Original language title: Les Corps Impatients
Country: france
Year: 2004
Running time: 94
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0309987/combined
Bruce says: “EAGER BODIES is an uncomfortable film to watch yet I can’t get it out of my mind. Charlotte (Laura Smet) is twenty and not feeling well. When she goes to the doctor he performs routine tests. The doctor subsequently sends her from Marseilles to Paris to have more conclusive tests performed. We first see her as she and her law student lover Paul (Nicolas Duvauchelle) are packing for the journey. He wants to be with her and see her through the ordeal. Little do they know how much of an ordeal is on the horizon.
“Laura’s mother is not going with them. She appears the type of woman that hates being exposed to unpleasantness. Her contribution is renting them an apartment for their stay. Once in Paris, results of the second round of tests are not favorable. Lung cancer is diagnosed. When chemotherapy does not reduce the lesions an operation is the only remaining option. That’s the medical part of the story, but this film is not really about medicine. It is about complex human relationships and how those relationships are stretched and strained by crisis.
“It appears that Charlotte and Paul do not have a long history. Many aspects of their relationship remain untested. Love is definitely part of the equation. Trust and loyalty have not yet been explored. When they get to Paris, Charlotte contacts her cousin Ninon (Marie Denarnaud) whom she has not seen in five years – since they were fifteen. Ninon ran away from home and has now become quite worldly, not to mention voluptuous.
“Paul and Ninon take turns caring for Charlotte. On most days Paul actually sits in the examining room with her while she undergoes painful tests and treatment. Charlotte is angry to learn that she is dying and lashes out unmercifully. Neither Paul nor Ninon is prepared for her verbal and physical attacks. They seek refuge by becoming lovers. Charlotte, fearful that this would happen, possibly has planned things this way. How the three of them come to terms with their circumstances is handled with
the utmost of skill. Director Xavier Giannoli deserves accolades for keeping the story from taking a maudlin turn by sustaining an analytical rather than emotional perspective.” 4 cats
This film is part of the 2004 New Directors/New Films series.