La bonne épouse (2020)

Directed by: Martin Provost | 109 minutes | comedy | Actors: Juliette Binoche, Yolande Moreau, Noémie Lvovsky, Edouard Baer, ​​François Berléand, Marie Zabukovec, Anamaria Vartolomei, Lily Taieb, Pauline Briand, Armelle, Marine Berlanger, Clémence Blondeau, Marie Cornillon, Lauren Deguitre, Clémentine Delange, Juliet Doucet

Outdated opinions and customs; the media is overflowing with it. Whether it concerns Zwarte Piet or a deposit on plastic bottles… our society is constantly innovating. And that is of course largely positive: after all, humans have been developing for centuries. Getting used to such an innovation sometimes happens so quickly that when you look back you can hardly imagine how it used to be different. The French comedy ‘La bonne épouse’ proves that once again.

France, late 1960s. Many young women choose to study at a domestic science school after high school – whether or not forced by their parents. They are thus prepared for ‘their most important task’: to be a good wife to their future husband. Paulette van der Beck (Juliette Binoche) leads the lessons with a firm hand at a modest household institute, together with her still single sister-in-law Gilberte (Yolande Moreau) and sister Marie-Thérèse (Noémie Lvovsky). Her husband Robert (François Berléand) takes care of the finances.

The beginning of ‘La bonne épouse’ coincides with the start of the new school year and thus the brand new students are introduced to the viewer. The girls are invariably called by their last name, but we only get to know four of the approximately twenty students. The free-spirited Fuchs (Marie Zabukovec), who is the only one who has seen all her clitoris, for example; the depressed Ziegler (Lily Taieb) and the wealthy Des-deux-Ponts (Anamaria Vartolomei), who makes no secret of her feelings for the already married, red-haired Schwartz (Pauline Briand).

When Robert suddenly dies in a crazy scene, Paulette’s former flame (Edouard Baer) suddenly reappears. That causes a slight doubt in her mindset – why are women slaves to men? But especially a drastic event with one of the students shakes her whole faith.

‘La bonne épouse’ is set in the period of the Parisian student revolt and the sexual revolution. The theme – female emancipation – can be found in every fiber of the film. Sometimes the situations are a bit exaggerated and the acting also contributes to this – a sharp contrast to the occasionally much more nuanced moments, such as when Paulette is wearing trousers (!) for the first time. The ending of the film is also at odds with the rest, not so much in content, but in style. The end result is therefore variable; not a film to annoy you, but not one that you will remember for a long time either.