the dilettante (la dilettante) 1999 region free dvd5 french bcbc

***The picture for this film is of a lesser quality than other movies I've uploaded. I don't know why as it's taken from an original DVD...that's just the way it is. Still, it comes with English subtitles and if you like French movies and you like the actress Catherine Frot then it's certainly worthwhile to see. Thanks, Mike.***



The Dilettante (La Dilettante) is a 1999 French film directed by Pascal Thomas and starring Catherine Frot, Sébastien Cotterot and Barbara Schulz.

Contains movie and Optional English Subtitles. No menus or extras. Regular DVD quality (Not BD, 1080p etc...). Seeding is appreciated as is feedback if possible. Thanks, Mike.







Synopsis

In the offbeat comedy La Dilettante, Pierette (Catherine Frot) is a woman who describes herself as having "opted for the temporary on a permanent basis." After 15 years of living the good life in Switzerland, Pierette one day packs her bags full of fashionable outfits and returns to her native Paris with no idea of what she'll do. Pierette, however, leads a charmed life; while her son is forced to work the graveyard shift at a factory due to poor job prospects, she's able to find a job right away at a high school. Pierette soon reintroduces herself to her 23-year-old daughter (Barbara Schulz) and one-time best friend (Nathalie Lafaurie), trying to use her charm to skate over years of neglect. She just as suddenly finds a new beau, Ackerman (Bernard Verley), and starts helping him out with his antique business. However, what would seem like a simple matter -- buying a clock from an elderly woman -- soon turns out to be very complicated and fraught with consequence.



Awards

1999: Best Actress Award at the Moscow International Film Festival.

2000: Nominated to the 25th Cesar Awards ceremony in the categorie Best Actress for Catherine Frot.

(won by Karin Viard for High hearts!)

2000: Nominated to the 25th Cesar Awards ceremony in the categorie Most Promising Actress for Barbara Schulz

(won by Audrey Tautou for Venus Beauty Institute).



Cast

Catherine Frot, Sébastien Cotterot, Barbara Schulz, Jacques Dacqmine, Christian Morin, Nathalie Lafaurie, Paul Minthe, Vania Plemiannikov, Jean Desailly, Clément Thomas



Film Review

One of the most highly rated French films of 1999, La Dilettante is an unusual bitter-sweet comedy which is as much a reflection of life in France in the early 1990s as it is a study of one woman who is incapable of being tied down in one place for more than five minutes - the eponymous dilettante.



The film stars Catherine Frot, a talented French actress who gives one of her best performances as the charming and elusive Pierette Dumortier. Hers is an extraordinary character - totally disarming in her naïve insouchiance, yet also annoying in her apparent superficiality. This explains why the other characters in the film either love her or loathe her - she is the embodiment of the independent woman, living for the present, yet leading a charmed life which propels her from one improable situation to another. Only once in the film does the character breakdown and protest against what fate has dealt her - for the rest, she is content to take things as they come. Catherine Frot's immense contribution to the film is to make this somewhat artificial character appear totally believable and, ultimately, sympathetic.



The film also benefits from a well-written script, which contains so many quotable lines (most famously: "I have opted to stay indefinitely in the temporary") and some brilliantly tongue-in-cheek comedy. Some times the humour is intentionally funny, such as the scene where Pierette is confessing to a Catholic priest that she is madly in love with another priest, but mostly the comedy is played down, as you would expect for an intelligent French comedy.



There are some pleasing moments of satire - which takes in most of the major institutions in France, including the schools, the Church and the legal system. Much of the humour seems to be made at the expense of the Bourgeoisie who, as ever, are portrayed as the villains of the piece. This is shameless stereotyping but it does emphasise the difference between Pierette, who earns her place in the middle class because of her charm, good fortune and unfaltering ingenuousness, and others of her social class, who have to resort to manipulation and deceit to preserve their position in society. The life of the dilettante has much to commend it, as indeed does this film.