Angele and Tony (2010)

Directed by: Alix Delaporte | 87 minutes | drama | Actors: Clotilde Hesme, Grégory Gadebois, Evelyne Didi, Jérôme Huguet, Antoine Couleau, Patrick Descamps, Lola Dueñas, Patrick Ligardes, Elsa Bouchain, Marc Bodnar, Corine Marienneau, Antoine Laurent, Farid Larbi, Tracy, Rama Grinberg

Angèle is a woman on a mission. That much becomes immediately clear in the first scene of the beautifully observed romantic drama ‘Angèle et Tony’, the first full-length film by director Alix Delaporte. A young man can be seen making “love” against a wall somewhere outside with a bored looking young woman – Angèle – who is waiting for the transaction to be over. Because that is what it is, as it turns out a few moments later. For making her body available for a while, Angèle gets a tough action figure, which she wants to give as a gift to her son that she has not seen for years. The viewer’s attention is immediately captured by this telling scene.

Although drama and emotion hang in the air, and the aforementioned story elements can easily make for a melodramatic dragon of a film, ‘Angèle et Tony’ remains surprisingly subtle. Angèle is never really “pathetic”. For example, in the opening scene you don’t have the impression that she is being used or that it has mental scars. She just uses her body to get what she wants and doesn’t give a shit about it. Also later in the film, when she wants to win Tony over, she prefers to present herself in all her naked glory than to engage in an intimate conversation. Talking is not her forte. In part because she has a lot to hide. For example, she does not initially throw herself out of love or lust on the not very attractive Tony. That is, she doesn’t do it out of love for him. She is also silent about her past that is not entirely spotless.

But even though Angèle is opportunistic and keeps things hidden, she always comes across as sympathetic and paradoxically authentic. The viewer just sees that she has a good heart and does not want to hurt Tony and the other people around her. She’s just a little shy at times and has some awkward or unusual manners. Of course, it helps that she does it all for her child in the end. After all, she is always honest about her feelings and does not (consciously) play with the people she meets.

A good actress in a nuanced role like Angèle’s is absolutely necessary and Clotilde Hesme is a godsend in that regard. She shows the right combination of shyness, intelligence, and passion. With small changes in her facial expressions, she always manages to keep the viewer captivated and glued to the screen. It remains so interesting to find out what she thinks and feels and whether it will really make it.

Not only Angèle is excellently acted. This also applies to Grégory Gadeboid as the not much less passive fisherman Tony, who suddenly has a beautiful young woman after him and must somehow build a natural interaction with it, without losing his sense of self or his self-esteem. chance of a possible romantic love. So he is skeptical from the start, yet sympathetic and understanding, trying, mostly in vain, to get to know the unfathomable young lady, who seems both too good and too bad to be true. Gadeboid keeps his distance very nuanced, and slowly opens the door a little further each time. He is generally stoic but has emotional outbursts in some key scenes that reveal deeper layers. Such as a strong need for love and a great fear of being hurt.

This couple’s warming up to each other may be slow, but once it’s set in motion, the viewer has the characters forever in their hearts. A small smile or twinkle in the eyes of Angèle or Tony is enough to be convinced of the imminent happiness of this pair. Precisely because it happens so sparsely, these kinds of small things are so significant and valuable.

The environment of Normandy is lovingly captured by director Delaporte, who spent many holidays in this area as a little girl. She has always been fascinated by fishermen, she says in the press material. People who spend a large part of their lives at sea, and are in a certain sense cut off from reality. But who, when they stir, can still frighten politics. She also put this last element in the film, or wanted to stop it. For example, there is a violent confrontation with riot police over catch quotas and imported fish, and references are made to arrests and previous incidents. Perhaps an interesting subject, but it is not elaborated very much in the film and is attached to the central love story as a separate story. There are still a few storylines or characters that could have been given more attention or could have been better left out. But in the end, the story of Angèle and Tony stands firm. Alix Delaporte mainly wanted to make a story about love. About the love of two people who had never tasted it before, and which she wanted the viewer to taste. And this has worked out in a great way. In fact, it tastes like more!