Trophy Wife (2011)

Mr. Pujol comes back into his factory after a medical leave for a heart attack and sees his wife. He tells her that she can leave so he can take over. Little be known to him, Mrs. Pujol reveals that she is now in control of the company and that he can go home. This is one of the main turning points of the film Potiche by Francois Ozon. Potiche means trophy housewife and Mrs. Pujol was one up until this point in the movie. Now she's making her husband be a trophy husband. Suzanne was not allowed to have a job or even work around the house. She was to have hobbies and cater to her husband. This movie is about Suzanne becoming a powerful woman independent of her husband. The movie starts out showing us how much Suzanne is in control by her husband. She refuses to admit that she is a trophy wife, even when her daughter tells her she is. When Mr. Pujols factory workers go on strike and is attacked, Suzanne has to take control of the factory. She takes this as her opportunity to take control of the company and be more than a trophy wife. The workers love all of her changes until her husband manipulates an unsigned contract to turn everyone against her. By the end though, Suzanne has more power than her husband does, even without the company.At the end of the movie Suzanne Pujol is giving a speech to a big crowd gathered. By the end, Suzanne has gained the vote of her husband's secretary, all of her kids, and almost everyone else. Although she lost control of the factory to her husband, she ends up with more power and more people on her side. When Suzanne is giving the speech, all eyes on her and she even refers to opening an umbrella in the speech. This is referring to her husband's umbrella factory. When the speech is over, she belts into song. The spotlight is on her through the whole song and ends in a shot focused on her as well. This shows how much Suzanne has changed and has become more than just a trophy housewife. She has shown everybody that she can be powerful and more than they had expected from her.I would recommend this movie to anyone. It is more of an adult movie because there are some sexual references and some difficult topics that a child would not grasp. I really like this movie because it starts out showing the general expectation of women, and ends with Suzanne becoming the complete opposite. This is definitely a feminist film. I also like how Suzanne not only gains power over her husband, but also over the Mayor who was her ex-lover. Suzanne takes the factory from her husband, and eventually the title of Mayor from the past Mayor. She shows that she does not need a man to succeed in life and I really like that.

For someone who loves French Cinema the plus side is a cast list boasting seven 'names' albeit one, Sergei Lopez, has only one brief cameo, whilst the negative side is that it was directed by Francois Ozon, a flavor-of-the-month helmer whose movies tend to fluctuate wildly between entertaining and pretentious. There's no way I'm going to spurn a chance to see Karin Viard and Judith Godreche in one film especially when there's a bonus in the shape of Fabrice Luchini, Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu. Alas, so many of them are wasted on what could have been a definitive Billy Wilder type comedy with a sting in the tail. It's not that any of the players are less than very good or that the plot is totally without merit it's more that instead of insight masquerading as froth we get froth that is barely froth, more the skin on the coffee masquerading as froth.

This film was primarily a glorification vehicle for former world beauty and French film icon Deneuve that got way too precious and obvious in its abject adoration by the end. This comedy about a tough factory owner who was kidnapped by his workers which allowed his more caring wife to take over his job was a bit better than TV quality fare and not much more than a mostly pleasant way to spend a couple of hours seeing how much a once great beauty has aged since her spot at the top of French cinema in the 60s and 70s. Deneuve's acting skill has not declined as much as her looks have but it has not improved much since then either, as her even, vapid personality made her role mostly uninteresting to me in this film just as most did back in the day. Other than her deserved status as a very attractive woman, there never was much there there. However, film always has been the showcase for the most beautiful women, as they do sell tickets no matter what kind of "acting" they do, as it's their "being" that counts more to an audience, especially to men. To their credit, the French are very appreciative and adamant about their icon worship, done very well recently in "The Illusionist" starring a graphic character of the incomparable Jacques Tati, but they went too far with little quality in Potiche. Vehicle movies are pure vanity pieces and often dismissed as fluff homage, and usually do not recover the cost of making them as they mostly do poorly at the box office due to their too-obvious glorifying agenda where story is very secondary to the primary purpose of overt and excessive icon adoration. This film may do fine in France, but I fully expect very poor box office to be the case in America.

Based on a French play, Potiche (aka. Trophy Wife) is set in 1977. Suzanne Pujol (Catherine Deneuve), a 'trophy housewife', finds out she must step up to manage her tyrannical husband Robert's (Fabrice Luchini) umbrella factory after the workers go on strike and take him hostage. To everyone's surprise, Suzanne proves herself to be a very competent leader of action. Her adult son and daughter also start to take more interest in the workings of the factory. Things get complex, however, when she bumps into her old flame and local politician, Maurice Babin (Gérard Depardieu), and her husband returns to take back his job.Whenever a film of recent years, like this one, try to fully capture the feel and style of a 70's film (or anything retro) with editing, camera tricks, and colors reminiscent of that era, I can't help but smile. Had I not known that this film was made in 2010, I could have been convinced that this was a film made in that decade. Of course, this is aside from the dead giveaways to the contrary with the appearances of well-known French actors who have obviously aged.Directed by François Ozon (Swimming Pool), this is a well-done, entertaining and visually attractive satire. A mixture of pastel and hot colors permeate throughout the film, along with bell-bottoms, retro hairstyles, design patterns, and clothing. The colorful umbrellas in the film are perhaps a good reminder of Deneuve's older, famous film, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. The colorful, playful, comedic tone of this film remains consistent, yet there are just enough complexities in the plot to keep the film from getting dull. AdvertisementAdmittedly, there's something rather monotonous about casual adulterous relationships in French films. It's almost expected in a French comedy (Unlike in America, French must find adultery sooooo funny). Robert has a mistress who is also his secretary, Nadège (Karin Viard), whom Suzanne knows about. Nevertheless, Suzanne is content with her life at home as Robert provides for her, materially. Once Robert is taken hostage and Suzanne takes over as manager of the company, the secretary becomes one of her closest allies. Meanwhile, her son Laurent (Jérémie Renier) and her daughter, Joëlle (Judith Godrèche), help out on the company as well, which does bring the family together more than before.Catherine Deneuve is quite likable in this film. It's hard not to cheer for the initially soft-spoken Suzanne. She is a cheerful character with a certain naïve optimism that makes her charming to people around her. And, well, she gets things done. Once she is proved to be a fairer and better leader than Robert, one can't help but be engaged in what she will do next. There is a side story regarding her past affair with Maurice (Depardieu), who still has feelings for her. The relationship between them does not take a typical turn, which I appreciated. While Robert comes off mostly as a buffoonish character, he isn't portrayed as someone to be simply reviled, thankfully. Overall, this is a colorfully entertaining, satirical film with playful characters and a nice retro style. Catherine Deneuve is a lot of fun to watch, and while this is not a subtle film by any means, it has enough energy and humor to be engaging throughout.You can find more of my movie review updates on http://twitter.com/d_art