DIARY OF A SEDUCER (LE JOURNAL DU SEDUCTEUR)
A Film Review by James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 7.0 Alternative Scale: *** out of ****
France, 1995 U.S. Release Date: beginning 5/97 (limited) Running Length: 1:35 MPAA Classification: No MPAA Rating (Sexual themes, profanity, violence) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Cast: Chiara Mastroianni, Melvil Poupaud, Hubert Saint-Macary,=20 Serge Merlin, Mathieu Amalric, Daniele Dubroux, Jean-Pierre Leaud,=20 Micheline Presle Director: Daniele Dubroux=20 Producer: Paulo Branco=20 Screenplay: Daniele Dubroux Cinematography: Laurent Machuel=20 Music: Jean-Marie Senia=20 U.S. Distributor: Leisure Time Features In French with subtitles
Upon hearing that DIARY OF A SEDUCER was based on a book by noted=20 thinker Soren Kierkegaard, I wondered if I, not being a student of=20 philosophy (and not having read DIARY OF A SEDUCER), might be at a=20 disadvantage. As it turns out, while writer/director Daniele Dubroux=20 toys with some of Kierkegaard's ideas, this is basically a quirky,=20 lighthearted comedy that isn't remotely interested in deep thought. =20
The film is structured in an atypical fashion, and it's virtually=20 impossible to predict at the beginning where it's likely to end up. In=20 fact, what opens as a fairly straightforward comedy about the failed=20 exploits of an inept seducer turns into something dark and offbeat, with=20 more than a slight element of magic thrown into the mix. DIARY OF A=20 SEDUCER is presented in a non-chronological fashion that makes it a=20 little confusing to determine the relationship of certain scenes to=20 others. In fact, there are times when the movie seems more like a=20 series of loosely-connected episodes strung together than a feature with=20 a central narrative. The "umbrella story" that binds DIARY's diverse=20 elements is not the film's strongest aspect.
The central figure is Claire (Chiara Mastroianni), a college=20 student who one day brings home a down-on-his-luck young man named=20 Sebastien (Mathieu Amalric). Sebastien tells Claire a sad story about=20 being gay and misunderstood, but his real goal is to seduce her. When=20 his unsubtle attempts to sleep with her fail, he turns his attentions to=20 Claire's mother, Anne (Dubroux), who is both less gullible and more=20 willing than her daughter.
Initially, it seems that the Claire/Sebastien/Anne triangle is=20 going to provide DIARY's main storyline. Ultimately, however, it proves=20 to be little more than a minor comic subplot. The primary narrative=20 involves a magical copy of Kierkegaard's DIARY OF A SEDUCER, which casts=20 a love spell on anyone who reads it. That person becomes obsessed by=20 the one who gave them the book to read. So, when a thoughtful, reserved=20 young man named Gregoire (Melvil Poupaud) presents Claire with the=20 volume, she ends up in his thrall.
Dubroux has populated her film with a wild assortment of oddball=20 characters. In fact, no one in this film is "normal" by traditional=20 standards. There's an eccentric party host who waves a gun at his=20 guests, a strange scientist who keeps decaying oxtails in his apartment,=20 and an psychiatrist who ruins his marriage by calmly telling his wife=20 that he's obsessing over a patient. Even Gregoire, who initially seems=20 almost ordinary, is hiding a startling secret, and it's not just that he=20 shares his residence with an agoraphobic grandmother.=20
One of the picture's strongest assets is the performance of leading=20 lady Chiara Mastroianni (MA SAISON PREFERE), the daughter of Catherine=20 Deneuve and late actor Marcello Mastroianni. Talented, attractive, and=20 charming, Mastroianni does much of her acting (and reacting) with facial=20 expressions, some of which are priceless. Many of the other cast=20 members, including veteran French actor Jean-Pierre Leaud, the=20 delightfully bumbling Mathieu Amalric, and Dubroux herself, perform on=20 an equally high level. The lone exception is Melvil Poupaud, whose=20 Gregoire is supposed to come across as mysterious and brooding (he is=20 referred to one at least one occasion as "Hamlet"), but instead seems=20 ineffectual.
I appreciate DIARY OF A SEDUCER for its energy and humor (this is a=20 rare French film that delivers laughs without resorting to the stupidity=20 of movies like THE VISITORS). There are things here that don't work =96=20 the entire magic book plot strand is poorly developed and ineffectively=20 resolved (the payoff, such as it is, doesn't live up to expectations). =20 But the movie holds the viewer's interest, and, though the final=20 destination reached by DIARY OF A SEDUCER may be something of a=20 disappointment, the journey undertaken to arrive there is enjoyable=20 enough to provide adequate compensation for any eventual shortcomings.
Copyright 1997 James Berardinelli=20
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- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@mail.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
"A film is a petrified fountain of thought." - Jean Cocteau
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