Au Petit Marguery
((FRENCH))
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Josephine ... Stephane Audran
Hippolyte ... Michel Aumont
Sophomore helmer Laurent Benegui -- whose parents ran a Paris restaurant of the same name, but which they were forced to abandon for the same bittersweet reason revealed late in the film -- adapted his own semiautobiographical novel for the screen. With nearly two dozen characters to define and juggle, some fall into the realm of stereotype and cliche, but the atmosphere is affectionate enough to carry the day.
It's a snowy evening as friends of Barnabe (Jacques Gamblin), sole child of chef Hippolyte (Michel Aumont) and his hard-working spouse Josephine (Stephane Audran), arrive for the farewell repast. Barnabe has opted to be a writer, not a cook, and the Petit Marguery is to be gutted to house a bank.
Scenes in the kitchen alternate with sequences in the dining area as the 15 primary revelers -- mostly young professionals with bourgeois concerns -- are established. Strategically integrated flashbacks from different characters' p.o.v.s acquaint us with opening day, Barnabe's youth, an episode of deflected adultery, and other emotional events.
Sole outsider at the gathering is Danielle, the new wife of homosexual-trying-to-go-straight Daniel, whose ex-lover Agamemnon lives above the restaurant.
In one comic highlight, a haughty linguist (Feodor Atkine), who worships at the alter of finicky grammar, makes the mistake of questioning the freshness of his steak. Pic also toys with ironic juxtapositions such as seating a gifted wine expert next to the neighborhood wino, who is invited in off the street to share in the meal.
A member of the kitchen staff (Salah Teskouk), whose wife stayed behind in Algeria and who finds himself stranded after 25 years of faithful service by Hippolyte's side, is one of the more poignant, understated characters.
Couples bicker or flirt, an inconvenient pregnancy surfaces, and nostalgia surges forth at every turn. Neatly conveying the hard-won complicity of a loving couple who have lived and worked together their entire adult lives, Audran -- seen a few years back slaving over the elaborate spread in "Babette's Feast"-- takes orders and serves, while Aumont presides over the busy kitchen.
Pic piles on the (mostly minor) conflicts in quantities that come perilously close to soap opera, while effectively showcasing the talents of a healthy slice of Gaul's up-and-coming thirtysomething thesps. Entire cast won a collective best acting prize at the La Baule fest of European films.
Aggressive, sometimes overly operatic score employs lofty chorales to give the essentially one-set enterprise an airy, celebratory feeling. Cozy lensing outwits the threat of claustrophobia by favoring lengthy choreographed takes in which a mobile camera cruises through the restaurant.
End crawl credits helmer's ex-restaurateur parents for "conception and fabrication of both the food and the director."
Camera (color), Luc Pages; editor, Jean-Luc Gaget; music, Angelique and Jean-Claude Nachon; production design, Pierre Attrait; set decoration, Wouter Zoon; costume design, Elisabeth Dallier, Marylene Chambas; sound (Dolby), Pascal Ribier, Gerard Lamps; culinary stylist, Emmanuelle Petit, assistant director, Benoit d'Aubert; casting, Nicolas Lublin. Reviewed at Arlequin Cinema, Paris, Nov. 5, 1995. (In Sarasota French Film Festival.) Running time: 91 MIN.
With: Alain Begel, Marie Bunuel, Thomas Chabrol, Vincent Colombe, Laurence Cote, Antoine Cousin, Marie-Laure Dougnac, Mimi Felixine, Alain Fromager, Jacques Gamblin, Claire Keim, Gerald Laroche, Agnes Obadia, Olivier Py, Jocelyn Quivrin, Pierre-Loup Rajot, Charles Schneider, Salah Teskouk, Myriem Roussel, Feodor Atkine.
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