Special Treatment (Sans Queue Ni Tête)
In this French ‘comedy’, Jeanne Labrune directs Isabelle Huppert as a high class prostitute who crosses paths with psychoanalyst Bouli Lanners. Both are seeking redemption and attempt to help each other out in their professional capacities.
The film provided no laughs whatsoever – what it tried to pass off as funny was generally grotesque and what it tried to pass off as wit was slight. The characters were unlikable and unsympathetic. Beyond its initial hypothesis – that prostitution and psychiatry share more than a little common ground, which is made clear within ten minutes then repeated for the film’s duration – the film has little more to say, other than ‘prostitution isn’t fun’, a conclusion I had already reached on my own.
The film struggled to maintain my attention and went down several unnecessary tangents. I was bored rigid. Nil points.
Hands Up (Les Mains en L’air)
In present day France, undocumented immigrant children and their families live with the fear of deportation at any minute and without warning. Eleven year old Chechen Milana is one such alien and, after the abduction of one of her classmates, is taken in by her best friend’s family for her protection.
The film is narrated by an adult Milana many years in the future, but aside from the elegant opening soliloquy, this interesting device is not implemented effectively. No matter; the film is nevertheless an excellent and enthralling political drama that also proves to be a poignant paean to childhood, growing up and lost innocence.
The child cast are truly brilliant and Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi excels as the valiant, progressive mother who takes in Milana. Highly recommended.
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