François Ozon’s latest film, Potiche, debuted to great anticipation Saturday Night at the Venice Film Festival.
Potiche deals with Catherine Deneuve having to take over an Umbrella Factory after her husband takes a leave after being taken hostage. Ozon says he was inspired by the 2007 election between Segolene Royal (whom Ozon supported) and Nicolas Sarkozy. The Associated Press summarizes the beginning of the film:
The movie strikes a comic tone from the start, with opening credits that evoke the opening sequence of the 1969-74 American sit-com “Love American Style.” Deneuve’s Suzanne is out jogging in a red track suit with triple white stripes down the side, her bouffant tucked into a hairnet. As she performs calisthenics, small woodland creatures catch her eye and appear to greet her: She is clearly a woman without a care in the world.
Ozon’s been downhill since the high water mark of 2003′s Swimming Pool, which this blogger saw as a horny, newly minted college graduate. Time To Leave and especially Angel had their moments, but Ricky was, at best, disappointing. Ozon is at his best when he’s oversexed and camped up, and the trailer above evokes the tone of an earlier, campier, Ozon film, 8 Femmes. Hopefully this is a return to form for Ozon.
