While not perfect, this new release from Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet is a fun bit of escapism...
Director: Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet
Starring: Anaïs Demoustier, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Denis Podalydès
Running time: 98 minutes
Anaïs in Love (‘Les Amours d’Anaïs’) is a film that, like its lead character (played by Anaïs Demoustier), barely stops to take a breath. It’s a fast-paced and comical, but also confusing and sometimes nonsensical, spin on the romantic comedy. Confusing because you’re never quite sure what the titular character’s intentions are, even though she always seems adamant she follows her heart. Nonsensical because, while creating a character that acts very sure of herself, it also appears to shy away from other important aspects of her life.
It is one of the many French rom-coms to follow in the footsteps of 2001’s Amélie, although it’s also very rooted in today’s busy metropolitan life. The lead actress Demoustier tackles a familiar sort of character in indie films - an energetic and often irresponsible, but always charming, city-dwelling woman taking on the world on her terms - and she portrays her very confidently.
Anaïs is a thirty-something graduate student at the Sorbonne, living alone in an expensive apartment after having just split up with her boyfriend Raoul (Christophe Montenez). The first scene of the film is her running frantically through Paris back to her apartment, going to meet her landlady who has missed out on a few months of rent. (Many of the scenes in the film are her just frantically running to places, and where to is sometimes not even established.)
Instead of her constantly affirming her intentions to the world, perhaps it would have been nicer to see her more often reflect on the world, to get an insight more often into the inner workings of her mind
Anaïs soon enters into a bizarre love triangle with an older man called Daniel (Denis Podalydès), and his successful writer wife, Emilie (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi). Anaïs first has an affair with Daniel, and then becomes infatuated with Emilie, gaining her attention by pretending to be a fan of her books. Much of the film then is spent in a sort of obsessive, romantic merry-go-round between the trio, with Daniel pursuing Anaïs, who in turn is pursuing Emilie. The sexual tension between the women is finally ended when Anaïs and Emilie finally begin their affair in a beautiful spot on the beach.
While it is entertaining watching this strange sort of love triangle unfold, it also becomes a bit uncomfortable watching Anaïs seek validation from Daniel and then Emilie, both older, more established members of society than her - it becomes disconcerting watching her perhaps lose herself to these romantic obsessions. To give the director Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet the benefit of the doubt, maybe the intention is to show that, despite age barriers and social expectations, Anaïs pursues those she is romantically attracted to no matter the cost, because she wants to, and there is a certainly a lot of weight to that argument. After all, Anaïs repeatedly affirms that she pursues partners because she wants to. However, it also seems that Anaïs, a young woman at a time who is losing her mum to cancer (played by Anne Canovas), loses a sense of direction in her life. Maybe it would be better if the film spent more time reflecting on Anaïs’s emotions and vulnerability, not because Anaïs should feel vulnerable, but because she is bound to, as a young woman entering into an older, complex relationship. Vulnerability is also surely what makes her character multi-layered and relatable.
Despite the criticisms, the film remains a sometimes comical and engaging portrayal of a love triangle crossing class and age barriers
We get a glimpse of this vulnerability sometimes, though, most notably at the end of the film when Anaïs is quietly crying, talking to Emilie, but again this is quickly undermined by rushed narrative developments. Instead of her constantly affirming her intentions to the world, perhaps it would have been nicer to see her more often reflect on the world, to get an insight more often into the inner workings of her mind. This is what Anaïs in Love fails to achieve in comparison to Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World, which similarly portrays a young woman trying to follow her own path in life, but which also reflects greatly on its protagonist’s doubts and insecurities. Then again, to defend Anaïs in Love, maybe Bourgeois-Tacquet is telling us that that’s not the type of person her character is, so who knows?
Despite these above criticisms, the film remains a sometimes comical and engaging portrayal of a love triangle crossing class and age barriers. It manages to keep your attention because you’re never sure what Anaïs is going to do next, who she is going to meet, or where in the world she is going to run to. It’s an often untraditional spin on the rom-com and an interesting exploration of millennial relationships which you might enjoy watching.
Did you know? Director Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet had already shot a short with actress Anaïs Demoustier, called Pauline asservie (2018), and wrote this movie with her in mind.
Anaïs in Love is showing at Broadway Cinema until Thursday 25 August
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