Le Prénom (What’s in a Name)
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If we’re lucky, we are given the opportunity to see a film that is so cleverly scripted, naturally acted and seamlessly edited that it leaves us searching for superlatives. This is exactly how I felt this evening after attending a community cinema screening of the 2012 French Comedy Drama, ‘Le Prénom’. While the film’s official English title is, ‘What’s in a Name’, the literal translation of the French title, ‘The first name’, is a more direct reference to a recurring crucial theme of the film.
In a nutshell, watching this film was very much like watching a well acted 21st century version of a Noel Coward play. In fact, except for its brief opening and closing segments, the film might as well be a play as it is set in the living area of a comfortable Paris Apartment. Consequently I was not surprised to discover that the film is based on a play of the same name by Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte, and that the playwrights are also given credit for the film’s storyline.
The film revolves around an evening and dinner hosted by Pierre and Élisabeth in their Paris apartment. Pierre is a Professor of French and Élisabeth is a school teacher. Attending the dinner is Élisabeth’s brother, Vincent and his pregnant wife Anna. The other guest is Claude, a musician and Élisabeth’s long time best friend. (Whether a trombone player can really be described as a musician is an issue addressed in one of the asides.)
The film’s dialogue is both witty and intelligent and never cliched or forced. Similarly, clever or funny lines are not artificially inserted in the script or delivered by the cast. Right from the start I was sucked in by how believable the dialogue was. As I was relying on the subtitles, this would also suggest that an exceptional translator is responsible.
Rather than just being entertaining, the conversations between those attending dinner party allow the viewer to gradually discover a great deal about each of the individuals and the relationships between them. A number of unexpected revelations further spice up the evening. Without giving away any more about the plot than is already given away in previews, I note that the main determinant of the direction in which the evening’s conversation heads is Vincent’s announcement that he and Anna propose to name their baby-boy, Adolphe.
Every member of the cast seems to be so perfectly cast that they never appear to be acting. What may further aid this sense is the absence of any actors overly, or at all familiar, at least to this Australian viewer.
As should already be abundantly clear, I highly recommend this outstanding intelligent comedy film.
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