By Ray Bennett
VENICE – A snapshot of a woman who must deal with being alone in her late 40s, “l’autre” (The Other One), written and directed by France’s Patrick Mario Bernard and Pierre Trividic, fails to offer anything new on the topic of loneliness.
Lackluster and missing information about key characters, the film’s attempts at surrealism misfire leaving star Dominique Blanc (pictured) stuck with an under-written role. The set-up involves a woman dumping her lover but then becoming threateningly jealous of the new woman in his life. That peg might spark initial interest in the picture but as the plot never catches fire, it won’t take it far.
Blanc plays Anne-Marie, who takes her work as a social worker seriously but cannot resolve her own feelings after she ended an 18-year marriage and now breaks off with her much younger lover, Alex (Cyril Guei).
She encourages him to find someone else but when he does she reacts badly. The impressionable young man, who clearly likes older women, continues to meet Anne-Marie even though she pesters him for information about his new love.
Despite a good and sometimes sexual relationship with an old lover named Lars (Peter Bonke), Anne-Marie’s fears of growing old alone drive her to increasingly odd behavior. Not odd enough, however, to hold very much interest.
Venice Film Festival, In Competition; Cast: Dominique Blanc, Cyril Guei, Peter Bonke, Christele Tual, Anne Benoit; Directors, screenwriters: Patrick Mario Bernard, Pierre Trividic; Director of photography: Pierric Gantelmi D’Ille; Production designers: Daphne and Axel Deboaisne; Music: Rep Muzak; Costume designer: Anais Romand; Editor: Yann Dedet; Producer: Patrick Sobelman; Production company: Ex Nihilo. Sales agent: Films Distribution. Not rated, 97 minutes.
This review appeared in The Hollywood Reporter.