Madamoiselle Chambon opens with a delightful scene of a young husband and wife sitting in a park helping their son with his grammar homework. Being that its French grammar, the rules are complicated and impossible to follow. They all sit there scratching their heads as they try to parse a sentence. The boy, about 8 years old, ultimately comes up with the right answer after the father and mother both fail to get it. This sets up a beautiful story of a loving father who always try to do the right thing, until unexpected things get in the way.
The father, Jean (played by Vincent Lindon) is a stone mason who one day helps out his wife by picking up their son at school. As he arrives he sees the eponymous teacher, Véronique, (played by the lovely Sandrine Kiberlain) and pauses for a moment as he realizes he's attracted to her. She has a similar reaction to him, but that is that and he leaves with his son. She ultimately finds a way to be alone with him and the two have a few interactions filled with extreme sexual tension, but never fulfilled as they both know that an affair would be disastrous to his family. Still, they are magnetically drawn to one another and both are lost in their fantasies about the other.
The direction and writing by Stéphane Brizé is really wonderful (and it's extra special that she is from Rennes, a town I lives in during my junior year of high school). She allows the characters to sit and think for minutes on end - not allowing the shots to become uncomfortable, but letting us see their full thought process working inside their heads. This is a slow film with very little action, but it never gets dull. Both main characters are totally appealing and sympathetic. You can't blame them for falling in love, but also understand the difficult situation they are in. The beautiful long shots of them staring off into their deep thoughts make us feel closer to them. We all feel like we could be in such a situation in our own lives.
Of course a large part of the reason we can sympathize with them is that the acting is so fantastic. Vincent Lindon is wonderful as a loving father and husband who gets stuck in this world where he doesn't want to hurt his family, but doesn't want to live without Véronique either. There is a beautiful scene where he uncomfortably describing his work to the kids in the class. He is not used to talking about what he does and clearly is not much of a thinking man. He is immediately sympathetic, like a lost puppy out in the world for the first time.
Sandrine Kiberlain is equally fabulous in her role as the proud, strong-willed teacher who has a habit for leaving a town before she can make any connections, always trying to escape her over-bearing Parisian mother and her failed career as a violinist. She is also vulnerable emotionally, but also smart and forthright.
I think this film is an analysis of different kinds of people in France. We see that Jean and his family who live in the South are a tight unit (despite his cheating heart), where he and his wife will do anything for their son. They both work blue-collar jobs, but are proud and happy with a loving family (Jean takes care of his crotchety old father as well).
Véronique, who comes from Paris, is less outwardly expressive, even keeping her talent as a violinist to herself (clearly she's ashamed because she has disappointed her family to some degree). At one moment we hear an answering machine message from her mother who is arrogant, cold and judgmental - a far cry from Jean and his wife.
I think this is a beautiful film - and a very French one too. I love the long, long takes looking at Véronique thinking about what her next move might be, knowing that she and Jean have very limited options. The ending is a bit neat, but I think it's nice and works well with the story to that point. I think Brizé deserves a lot of credit for making such a beautiful, interesting film.
Stars: 3.5 of 4
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