We are not used to seeing her in this type of film.
Starring in “Over the Seasons”, in theaters this Wednesday, Catherine Deneuve, after playing Bernadette Chirac, is starring in an independent American feature film, a rarity in her career.
The film, by German-American duo Hanna Ladoul and Marco La Via, takes place in the present day on the east coast of the United States, and tells the story of the return home of a young woman, Charlie, to the organic farm run by his mother, Laura.
Against his will: an economics student, espousing the theses of modern capitalism, Charlie must interrupt his university career to help Laura, suffering from cancer, manage her poultry farm.
Mother and daughter do not get along very well: a leftist advocating a return to the earth and simple values, Laura views Charlie's studies with suspicion.
Tensions will increase as Charlie discovers the exhausting manual work on the farm and a surprise guest appears: Solange, Laura's mother, who did not raise her and whom she has never seen since her childhood. .
The latter harbors strong resentment towards her progenitor who was nourished by the ideas of the 1970s and who traveled several times around the world between ashrams and communities.
From collector of porcelain chickens to… breeder of gallinaceae
To the point of never having spoken about it to Charlie who discovers, stunned, the existence of this extraordinary French grandmother, who views life with both an amused and positive outlook, and who will have to help her granddaughter for daily maintenance of the henhouse.
While Laura's state of health deteriorates, the three women, who initially look at each other like a gun, will gradually learn to know and love each other, with the help of an unforeseen event: Charlie and Solange. must hide the farm's chickens, threatened with eradication following an epidemic of avian flu...
Produced by Martin Scorsese, this partly autobiographical story by co-director Hanna Ladoul distills both the flaws and the charm of many independent feature films from across the Atlantic.
On the weak side, several implausibilities accompanied by a few clichés in the scenario, and a plot that is not always exciting and sometimes slows down.
Conversely, the complicity of the three actresses in certain scenes is heartwarming.
Both seen in American films and series - also independent -, Andrea Riseborough (Laura) and Morgan Saylor (Charlie) match perfectly with Catherine Deneuve (Solange).
Both funny and profound, the latter plays out wonderfully in her role as a light-witted French grandmother who goes so far as to flirt with the local sheriff!
And then, even if it is unintentional, what a wonderful idea to have entrusted Catherine Deneuve, who collects porcelain chickens, with the role of a gallinaceous breeder...
Editor's note:
3/5
“Throughout the seasons”,
American dramatic comedy by Hanna Ladoul and Marco La Via, with Catherine Deneuve, Andrea Riseborough, Morgan Saylor... 1h33.