Souvenir (2016)

Directed by: Bavo Defurne | 90 minutes | drama, music, romance | Actors: Isabelle Huppert, Kévin Azaïs, Johan Leysen, Jan Hammenecker, Anne Brionne, Sophie Mousel, Benjamin Boutboul, Carlo Ferrante, Muriel Bersy, Fanny Blanchard, Thomas Coumans, Christine d’Argenton, Joël Delsaut, Thorunn Egilsdóttir, Mickey Hardt, Alice D’Hauwe, Denis Jousselin, Stefan Kampeneers

Liliane Cheverny (Isabelle Huppert) leads a languishing life as an employee in a meat factory, where she decorates large trays of pâté with leaves all day long. She was once famous for a short time, when she participated in the Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of France and came second behind ABBA. The name of the song was “Souvenir” and she seemed about to break through as an artist. A split with her husband/manager proved to be the definitive turning point and her career was on the rocks. Her stage name Laura has now become a trivia question in a TV quiz where Liliane watches lonely at night, a bottle of booze within reach.

Then young Jean (Kévin Azaïs) comes to work as a stand-in in the factory. The somewhat shy amateur boxer has ambitious dreams and falls under the spell of Liliane, especially when she initially denies that she is the singer Laura. Jean persists (partly because his father was a big fan of Laura) and slowly manages to break through her aloofness. After a performance for his boxing club, Liliane gets a taste for it again and with Jean who is head over heels in love, she wants to organize a comeback.

Isabelle Huppert shows here again why she is one of the best French actresses – although it takes some getting used to to introduce her as a factory worker. Fortunately, she doesn’t play a cool or icy role here for a change. At the same time, with the withdrawn Liliane, she does not immediately evoke heartwarming feelings. In the beginning, the filmmakers put a lot of emphasis on her social isolation for the later contrast. Jean is actually the only one with whom she has any kind of social contact in the first half of the film. Maybe because of Jean’s interest in her life, she’s willing to look past his ridiculous mustache. Who ever thought it was a good idea to dress up the character with this hilarious lip embellishment?

It hardly detracts from Azaïs’ acting, cleverly enough. He forms a nice counterbalance to the 63-year-old Huppert as the 22-year-old Jean, who still lives with his parents, but throws himself full of devotion into a love affair. Their budding romance – watched suspiciously by Jean’s parents – is ‘Souvenir”s greatest asset. The authentic acting of the protagonists creates a “feel good” atmosphere, without getting too sweet kitsch.

It all seems a bit fairytale-like and of course this path is not a bed of roses, but director Bavo Defurne, for the most part, keeps it pretty light-hearted. According to his own words, he wanted to make a “Sunday afternoon film” and in that self-chosen assignment he certainly succeeded. There is not much special and great drama in the film. Perhaps it says enough that the opening and closing of Huppert’s evening dresses turns out to be an important plot point.

Despite the director being of Belgian descent, the film has a funny chauvinistic (not a French word for nothing) flavor: of course ABBA only won over Laura because there was cheating. Huppert sang all her songs herself and she does it wonderfully well. It’s a brave decision because she doesn’t have a brilliant voice, but she sings the nostalgic songs with conviction and the right timbre. And by the way: anyone who has ever seen the Eurovision Song Contest knows that singing talent is not a basic requirement. And then Huppert certainly does above average. The cheerful comeback song ‘Joli Garçon’ is a clear reference to her love for Jean. The song is just like the movie: a pleasant little thing that is still quite catchy.