31
May/17

FILMS ON THE GREEN: POTICHE (TROPHY WIFE)

31
May/17

Catherine Deneuve wants to be more than just a trophy housewife in François Ozon’s Potiche

POTICHE (TROPHY WIFE) (François Ozon, 2010)
Central Park, Cedar Hill
East side from 76th to 79th Sts.
Friday, June 2, free, 8:30
www.musicboxfilms.com/potiche
frenchculture.org

For the tenth anniversary season of Films on the Green, presented annually in parks around the city by the French Embassy — Cultural Services, the selections were made by a collection of guest curators; the 2017 summer series kicks off June 2 with François Ozon’s Potiche (Trophy Wife), which was chosen by actress and comedian Wanda Sykes. Legendary French star Catherine Deneuve radiates a colorful glow throughout the film, her smile lighting up the screen as it has throughout her long career, which now comprises more than one hundred movies over more than fifty years. Reunited with writer-director Ozon (8 Women) and Gérard Depardieu (they first appeared together in Claude Berri’s Je Vous Aime in 1980 and more recently in André Téchiné’s Les Temps Qui Changent in 2004), Deneuve was nominated for a César for her role as Suzanne Pujol, a trophy housewife who primarily serves as arm candy for her husband, Robert (Fabrice Luchini), who runs Suzanne’s family’s umbrella factory like a tyrant and is a little too close to his secretary, Nadège (César nominee Karin Viard). When Robert is taken hostage during a nasty strike at the plant, Suzanne is forced into action, deciding to run the business with the help of her counterculture son, Laurent (Jérémie Rénier), and her conservative daughter, Joëlle (Judith Godrèche). At first clashing with the mayor, Maurice Babin (Depardieu), Suzanne is soon considering rekindling her long-ago affair with the rather rotund Maurice as she realizes there’s so much more to life than being a wealthy appendage.

(Catherine Deneuve) has her hands full in Potiche, which kicks off Films on the Greens tenth anniversary season

Suzanne Pujol (Catherine Deneuve) has her hands full in Potiche, which kicks off Films on the Green’s tenth anniversary season on June 2 in Central Park

Loosely adapted from a Theatre de Boulevard comedy by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Grédy, Potiche is a charming throwback to 1970s female-empowerment movies, depicting long-held-back women suddenly grabbing the reins and embracing their personal and professional freedom, getting out from under the thumb of repressive societal conventions. Ozon infuses the film with numerous references to Deneuve’s history, evoking such seminal works as The Young Girls of Rochefort, Belle de Jour, and, of course, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, and the costumes — particularly Deneuve’s fabulous fashion sense, which often dominates the scene — are a hoot, earning costume designer Pascaline Chavanne a much-deserved César nomination, but things get haywire in the final section, getting too silly and going too far over the top when politics come into play. Still, Potiche ably represents its genre, having fun with itself, which rubs off on the audience, who will have plenty of fun as well. Films on the Green continues weekly through July 28 (before a September 7 finale) with such other French films as Alain Gomis’s Tey (Today) chosen by Saul Williams, Leos Carax’s Mauvais Sang selected by Wes Anderson, Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt picked by Jim Jarmusch, and Marcel Carné’s Port of Shadows from Laurie Anderson.