As a construction worker and his son’s teacher begin to fall in love, the world around them shimmers. Mademoiselle Chambon looks at our power to take risks and make choices that are life-defining.
Stephane Brize’s creation has been nominated for Best Foreign Film by the 2011 Spirit Awards (formerly the Independent Spirit Awards). Based on a novel by Eric Holder, it won a Cesar Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Vincent Lindon as Jean and Sandrine Kiberlain as Veronique seem happy enough in their routines. One day she invites him to speak at his son’s class. Signs of quiet desperation begin to appear. So much is evoked in a long look, a nervous gesture, a broadening of the shoulders. The pair’s acting is superb.
Rugged, blue-jean clad Jean is eloquent as he speaks to the class. The children pepper him with questions: “What is the biggest house you ever built?” “Will the house last for a lifetime?” Lindon conveys humility and dignity in this fanfare for the common man.
After the talk, Mlle. Chambon asks Jean about a drafty window in her apartment. He volunteers to look at it for her.
Like the hollowbrick he uses, Jean’s life seems solid but holds an empty space inside. He is satisfied. His earthy wife Anne Marie (Aure Atika) is pregnant. A caring mother to their son Jeremy (Arthur Le Houerou), she concocts delicious meals and works in a book factory.
While Anne Marie is likely to dismiss Jean’s ideas, Veronique really listens and shares them. What the teacher awakens in Jean is not only sexual, but an acknowledgement of his mind and gentle philosophy. Later in the film he brings Veronique to a tree-covered bluff, his favorite place to think. Jean has never invited anyone else here.
Born of a wealthy family, Veronique is well-educated. As a traveling substitute teacher, she never stays in one place for more than a year. Her intent search and ethereal quality reveal a woman who has chosen not to compromise. Lovely, quiet and serious, she seeks a man who is equally sensitive, intelligent and warm.
Jean washes the feet of his elderly father (expressive Jean-Marc Thibault) weekly. Lindon is manly and tender here. One day he accompanies his father to a funeral home. Matter-of-factly, the elder selects a casket similar to his wife’s. Jean is shown drinking alone later that day.
Veronique begins to dare more, removing a violin hidden in its case only at Jean’s request. Her music captivates Jean with her unexpressed feelings. Reluctantly, she accepts an invitation to play at a birthday celebration for Jean’s father.
Anne Marie looks on as Mlle. Chambon plays an Elgar sonata. Finally she understands Jean’s recent argumentative moodiness and withdrawal from her. Both Kiberlain and Atika were nominated for Cesar Awards for their roles here.
Understated dramas like this showcase acting skills, as Lindon and Kiberlain create so much with so little. Still American audiences may chafe at Mademoiselle Chambon’s introspection.
Antoine Heberle’s cinematography lingers on excruciating moments. In one mesmerizing scene Jean and Veronique sit in his car, wordless. The film’s climactic finale takes place at a train station.
Lindon has been hailed for his prolific filmography. Recently he starred in the sensitive Welcome (2009) and the crime drama Pour Elle (2007). Kiberlain is known for Alias Betty (2001) and The Apartment (1996).
If you like Mademoiselle Chambon, you might enjoy: I Am Love; Wild Grass; An Education; Welcome.
Mademoiselle Chambon 2009 / NR / 1 hour, 36 min
Cast Overview: Vincent Lindon, Sandrine Kiberlain, Aure Atika, Jean-Marc Thibault, Arthur Le Houerou, Bruno Lochet, Abdellah Moundy, Michelle Goddet
Director: Stephane Brize
Genres: Foreign, Drama, Romance
Language: French with English subtitles
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