Little White Lies
Little White Lies
(Les petits mouchoirs)
Directed by Guillaume Canet
France, 2010
Cornerhouse, 17 April 2011
Still from Little White Lies
A film about the tentacles that bind together a group of friends, holidaying in the sun as one of their number lies alone in a hospital bed, on the edge of death.
A typically cheery French film then, you might well conclude.
They’re always up to something, these French fellows. Canet seems to be exploring the notion that cinema (and life too, perhaps) is play, distraction, a series of ephemeral obsessions. True, our emotions are engaged and we speak of love and hate, and various disappointments and sadnesses, but do these words really mean anything?
There’s a lot of laughter and entertainment to be had from this film, which has a more straightforward (and dare one say it, coherent) narrative than the director’s earlier Tell No One. Undoubtedly, there’s an underlying seriousness as well, mind.
The people here are reluctant to grow up, they find it difficult to sustain long term relationships, and are easily distracted by mobile phones and other devices. Maybe they’re spoilt. Small things irritate them. They live in a false idyll.
Although Canet has made a comedy, and a very good one, it could just as easily have been a tragedy. A very funny and moving film.
Explore posts in the same categories: Film reviewTags: Canet, Guillaume Canet, Les petits mouchoirs, Little White Lies
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June 5, 2011 at 9:06 am
I really enjoyed this one, though it could have been trimmed a fair bit…
check out my review
http://wp.me/p19wJ2-l6