Louise Wimmer (2011)

Directed by: Cyril Mennegun | 80 minutes | drama | Actors: Corinne Masiero, Jérôme Kircher, Anne Benoît, Marie Kremer, Jean-Marc Roulot, Frédéric Gorny, Cécile Rebboah, Anne-France Poli, Maud Wyler, Nicolas Woirion, Julien Alluguette, Franka Hoareau, Patricia Pekmezian, Marion Ploquin, Fabrice Donnioquin Olivier Séror, Jean-paul Moissette, Teïlo Azaïs, Cyril Legros, Lionel Nizard, Sophie Raive, Nathalie Kurzynski, Marie-Christine Girard

Cyril Mennegun took his first steps in the film world with a number of documentaries that were highly acclaimed, especially in his home country of France. The best known of these is probably ‘Tahar l’étudiant’ from 2005, in which he closely follows a penniless student as he tries to make it as an actor. The protagonist in that film, Mennegun’s good friend Tahar Rahim, has now made a definitive breakthrough in the film world thanks to the film ‘Un prophète’ (2009) by Jacques Audiard. Mennegun has another link with Audiard, because the lead actress in his first feature film, the social-psychological drama ‘Louise Wimmer’ (2011), can be seen in the film that Audiard made after ‘Un prophète’, ‘De rouille et d’ os’ (2012), alongside major international stars such as Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts. Corinne Masiero, because that’s her name, has more than earned it based on her title role in ‘Louise Wimmer’, because she plays the stars of heaven. Thanks to its penetrating performance, you forgive the film for its meager story and ultimately its somewhat easy-seeming and barely satisfying denouement.

Mennegun’s background as a documentary maker is clearly visible in his feature film debut. In a raw, realistic style, he sketches a portrait of Louise (Corinne Masiero), a woman who for reasons that are unclear has ended up on the street. She sleeps in her car, an old Volvo that can hardly be burned. With some cleaning jobs, including in a hotel, she earns a few rotten cents that she can immediately hand in to creditors. She has her mail sent to the owner of a coffee shop, where she has her thermos filled with coffee every day. Her furniture is stored in a box, but if she doesn’t pay the rent for that space quickly, the question is what happens to her stuff. People who try to help her, like Didier (Jerôme Kircher) whom she knows from the coffee shop, she pushes away just as easily. Desperate, she knocks on the door of social services every week in the hope that they have finally found her an apartment.

Louise is not an addict and as far as we know her debts are not exorbitant. How does this intelligent middle-aged woman end up on the street just like that? This is where the shoe pinches with this film. Because although we get bits of back story – that she got divorced on her own initiative, for example, and that the relationship with her only daughter (Maud Wyler) is difficult – we never get a clear picture of who this woman actually is. And that makes it difficult to sincerely empathize with her. Fortunately, Corinne Masiero shows up so convincingly and makes Louise’s struggle visible (at least to the eye). Her body language, her glance; It’s clear that we’re dealing with a bruised woman here. In a penetrating scene, in which she dances as if in a trance to the hypnotic sounds of Nina Simone’s ‘Sinnerman’, we really see how close she is to madness. It’s a shame that the story doesn’t compare with Masiero’s rich performance. This may have to do with the lack of background information about this wandering lady. The few facts we learn about her leave us wanting more. Unfortunately, we don’t get that and are left with an ending that initially feels positive, but ultimately doesn’t give the satisfaction we hoped for.

As an atmospheric sketch of a woman who lives on the fringe of society, ‘Louise Wimmer’ is quite successful. Due to a lack of depth and the lack of a satisfying ending, writer and director Cyril Mennegun has not been able to get the most out of it. It’s all too distant. The solid raw camera work – in the style of the Dardenne brothers – and the tour-de-force of lead actress Corinne Masiero, despite its shortcomings, still give the film a big pass.