Sur mes levres (2001)

Directed by: Jacques Audiard | 115 minutes | drama, romance, crime | Actors: Vincent Cassel, Emmanuelle Devos, Olivier Gourmet, Olivier Perrier, Olivia Bonamy, Bernard Alane, Céline Samie, Pierre Diot, François Loriquet, Serge Boutleroff, David Saracino, Christophe van de Velde, Bô Gaultier de Kermoal, Loïc Le Page, Nathalie Lacroix, Laurent Valo, Christiane Cohendy, Isabelle Caubère, Chloé Mons, Patrick Steltzer, Philippe Wintousky, Gladys Gambie, Maurine Nicot, Keena

‘Sur mes lèvres’ is a sensitive film about two people who do not function well in society. Carla because she has a disability, Paul because he can’t get a job as an ex-criminal. Because of their past, the two have built up little social skills and built a high wall around themselves, but it is precisely because of their lack of finesse that they get through to each other. What a beautiful thought. If ‘Sur mes lèvres’ had been an American film, the wallflower would then turn into a vamp and the mourner into a good citizen. Fortunately, the French are more realistic.

The main characters of ‘Sur mes lèvres’ are not portrayed as heroes, but as persons of flesh and blood, including quirks. Carla is suspicious, petulant and manipulative. She is so entrenched in her victim role that you can understand why she can’t get a man. When a friend asks her to play babysitter for the umpteenth time, she doesn’t dare say no. Instead, she takes it out on a cute (but deaf) guy who tries to contact her. Carla prefers to forget that she is hard of hearing and rejects others with the same disability. In addition, she forces Paul, who wants to make a new start, into theft and extortion. Behind the gray mouse an ice-cold aunt is hidden. It’s that Paul himself is also a clumsy jerk, otherwise you would almost feel sorry for him.

Yet you gradually get more and more sympathy for the two. You see that they are attracted to each other, but do not know what to do with their feelings. The fact that this evokes endearment and no irritation is due to the acting of Emmanuelle Devos and Vincent Cassel. They are their characters and know exactly how to strike the right chord with their interpretations. A few beautiful, telling scenes do the rest. Paul trying to ‘thank’ Carla for her housing brokerage with a clumsy attempt at seduction. Carla who puts on red pumps on lonely evenings and dreams that she is a desirable woman. When she wants to shut herself off from the outside world, she takes off her hearing aid. Her isolation is partly self-chosen, but no less palpable for that.

The romantic entanglements are intertwined with a thrilling plotline surrounding a major money theft, in which Carla’s special ability plays a surprising role. The film’s denouement is obvious, but no less welcome and moving. Kudos to director and screenwriter Jacques Audiard is therefore in order, although you can question the usefulness of the third storyline. This revolves around the missing wife of Paul’s probation officer and serves no purpose. In fact, he just distracts. Fortunately, this is only a minor flaw in an otherwise perfectly worked out romantic crime film.