Sunday, June 18, 2006

Sydney Film Festival 2006: La Moustache



La Moustache, directed by Emmanuel Carrere 2005.

Moving from one confusing movie to another, La Moustache was not to be outdone in the complexity department. Billed by the festival as a comedy, I personally didn't find it that funny, but I did find the film highly engaging and thought provoking (being a french film that isn't much of a surprise).

Vincent Lindon plays Marc, a man with a moustache. He asks his wife what she would think if he shaved his moustache off and her response is simply, "I don't know, I've never seen you without a moustache." Curousity winning out, Marc shaves his moustache off while his wife, Agnes, is out on an errand. Thinking to surprise her, Marc momentarily hides the fact his moustache is gone, before working up to a grand 'reveal' only to have her not blink an eye. Marc soon discovers that his wife insists he never had a moustache in the first place. So with a loss of a moustache, the loss of reality is soon to follow.

The film does a good job of putting you in Marc's position, so the audience soon find themselves questioning what is real and who is sane just like Marc. If that wasn't enough time soon seems to be wrapping around on itself.

This film again is a rather difficult to write a review on. I can assure you this, if you are fan of French cinema than you will more than likely enjoy this movie. It is filled with the pensive, 'Why do we do what do' nature that seems to a requirement of French cinema. It is also fair to note that like a lot of French cinema, things are left very much unresolved, so if you are the type of person who needs nice neat closure to the stories you embark on, stay far away from this film.

Toying with questions of personal identity and identity construction, La Moustache is a fun look at the subject, while it is sure to intrigue and perhaps infuriate those who are willing to brave its murky waters.

***Three Stars

2 comments:

Brandon said...

What a simple and somewhat silly way to approach these sorts of prickly and difficult questions of reality and identity.

Grinth said...

It's definitely silly, and intentionally so....I know some of the other people in the group who happened to go to this film didn't like it quite as much as I did, but for some reason it worked for me.