Parlez-moi de la pluie
Encyclopedia
Parlez-moi de la pluie(2008) is the third film directed by Agnès Jaoui
from an original screenplay by her husband Jean-Pierre Bacri
( the invincible team 'Jabac' as Alain Resnais
has nicknamed them ) - after The Taste of Others
and Look at Me
. It takes its title from a song by Georges Brassens
. Agnès Jaoui has said in an interview that one day she was on her way to a writing session with Jean-Pierre and had in her ears the song 'L'orage' by Georges Brassens which opens with the lines 'parlez-moi de la pluie, et non pas du beau temps.'
The film is set in a small town in Provence during a rainy August. Following the death of her widowed mother Agathe Villanova comes from Paris to deal with the sale of the home where she and her younger sister Florence were brought up, and to announce her entry into politics. She is the author of a feminist best-seller and a divorced film-maker Michel wants to make a TV documentary about her. Michel is having an affair with Agathe's sister. His collaborator is a young Algerian hotel clerk Karim, whose elderly mother has worked for most of her life as a servant with the Villanova family. Agathe's prejudice is put under the microscope when she records a series of interviews with Karim.
'The characters weave around each other for a week or so, occasionally colliding...everyone comes to have a better knowledge of themselves..the dialogue rings true..the ensemble acting is perfect..The film compares favourably with the best of Éric Rohmer
.' (Philip French
)
Agnès Jaoui
Agnès Jaoui is a French screenwriter, film director, actress and singer of Tunisian Jewish descent. She frequently works in collaboration with her husband Jean-Pierre Bacri.-Actress:* Le Faucon...
from an original screenplay by her husband Jean-Pierre Bacri
Jean-Pierre Bacri
Jean-Pierre Bacri is a French actor and screenwriter who frequently works in collaboration with Agnès Jaoui.-Life:One of his earliest film appearances was Subway...
( the invincible team 'Jabac' as Alain Resnais
Alain Resnais
Alain Resnais is a French film director whose career has extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included Nuit et Brouillard , an influential documentary about the Nazi concentration camps.He began...
has nicknamed them ) - after The Taste of Others
The Taste of Others
The Taste of Others , is a 2000 French film. It was directed by Agnès Jaoui, and written by her and Jean-Pierre Bacri. It stars Jean-Pierre Bacri, Anne Alvaro, Alain Chabat, Agnès Jaoui, Gérard Lanvin and Christiane Millet....
and Look at Me
Look at Me (film)
Look at Me is a 2004 drama film directed by Agnès Jaoui. The movie won "Best Screenplay" award at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. The movie features a clip from the 1948 film Blood on the Moon.-Plot:...
. It takes its title from a song by Georges Brassens
Georges Brassens
Georges Brassens , 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981), was a French singer-songwriter and poet.Brassens was born in Sète, a town in southern France near Montpellier...
. Agnès Jaoui has said in an interview that one day she was on her way to a writing session with Jean-Pierre and had in her ears the song 'L'orage' by Georges Brassens which opens with the lines 'parlez-moi de la pluie, et non pas du beau temps.'
Synopsis
The film is a comedy of middle-class French life ' examining culture clashes, puncturing smugness, exposing fault lines, finding strength in romantic and familial relationships and discovering an underlying sadness that stops some way short of tragedy.' (Philip French in The Observer.)The film is set in a small town in Provence during a rainy August. Following the death of her widowed mother Agathe Villanova comes from Paris to deal with the sale of the home where she and her younger sister Florence were brought up, and to announce her entry into politics. She is the author of a feminist best-seller and a divorced film-maker Michel wants to make a TV documentary about her. Michel is having an affair with Agathe's sister. His collaborator is a young Algerian hotel clerk Karim, whose elderly mother has worked for most of her life as a servant with the Villanova family. Agathe's prejudice is put under the microscope when she records a series of interviews with Karim.
'The characters weave around each other for a week or so, occasionally colliding...everyone comes to have a better knowledge of themselves..the dialogue rings true..the ensemble acting is perfect..The film compares favourably with the best of Éric Rohmer
Éric Rohmer
Éric Rohmer was a French film director, film critic, journalist, novelist, screenwriter and teacher. A figure in the post-war New Wave cinema, he was a former editor of Cahiers du cinéma....
.' (Philip French
Philip French
Philip French is a British film critic and former radio producer.French, the son of an insurance salesman, was educated at the direct grant Bristol Grammar School, read Law at Oxford University. and post graduate study in Journalism at Indiana University, Bloomington on a scholarship.He has been...
)
Cast
- Michel Ronsard - Jean-Pierre BacriJean-Pierre BacriJean-Pierre Bacri is a French actor and screenwriter who frequently works in collaboration with Agnès Jaoui.-Life:One of his earliest film appearances was Subway...
- Karim - Jamel DebbouzeJamel DebbouzeJamel Debbouze is an actor, comedian and producer of Moroccan descent.-Biography:Debbouze is the oldest of five brothers. He was born in Paris, France, but his family moved to Morocco the following year...
- Agathe Villanova - Agnes JaouiAgnès JaouiAgnès Jaoui is a French screenwriter, film director, actress and singer of Tunisian Jewish descent. She frequently works in collaboration with her husband Jean-Pierre Bacri.-Actress:* Le Faucon...
- Florence - Pascale ArbillotPascale Arbillot-Filmography:*1999 : Le Sourire du clown*1999 : L'Extraterrestre*2001 : Grégoire Moulin contre l'humanité*2002 : Plus haut*2004 : Clara et moi*2006 : Un printemps à Paris*2008 : Parlez-moi de la pluie...
- Stéphane - Guillaume De TonquedecGuillaume De TonquédecGuillaume de Tonquédec is a French actor, born 1969.He was made famous in 1991 as school-boy and Claude Jade's son Jules in Tableau d'honneur, followed by his Serge along with Juliette Binoche in Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colors: Blue and Claude Zidi's Deux starring Gérard Depardieu..-External...