Pôtiche

So, when I'm not busy getting hit on, I'm busy getting rejected. After a particularly mal élevé Frenchman did not call me back one Saturday in December, Host Mom (who gets more awesome everyday, really) invited me to the movies. We decided to go see Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu's latest film, Pôtiche. In French, pôtiche means vase, but can also designate someone who is merely decorative, like a puppet politician or, as in the film, a trophy wife.


Deneuve plays one such wife, who has to take over the family umbrella company when her cheating, egocentric husband (Fabrice Luchini who was also in Paris, an amazing film) falls ill during a workers' strike. Gerard Dépardieu plays the Communist organizer she must turn to for help. All this is set against a background of technicolor 1970's sets and wardrobe, with a "free to be you and me" message and a musical finale. Indochine, it ain't.

Deneuve, while she is no longer the heart-stopping beauty she once was, has aged gracefully. Dépardieu, on the other hand, is absolutely, stunningly fat. (Not pertinent? Perhaps. Did I spend most of the movie trying to figure out how he managed to get in and out of those little french cars? You betcha.) There were some chuckles from the (all middle-aged) crowd during the show, so clearly I missed a few jokes, but this film was clearly a vehicle for two aging, beloved French stars.