En Équilibre
12/03/16 Filed in: Amazon Prime
Another French film from Amazon Prime. This time a love story but far from conventional.
Marc Guermont is a stunt horseman who is seriously injured during a scene. The take involves the horse and rider falling but after successfully doing this the horse, Othello, stamps on Marc's spine having been spooked by a dog. As a consequence he is left a T10 paraplegic.
Florence Kernel is the insurance assessor sent to settle his claim. Marc had already 'thrown out' the previous assessor when he had arrived at the hospital, and Florence had been sent to try a more gentle approach. But Marc felt that he was being short-changed and refused an early settlement. Florence, meanwhile, seemed to be beguiled by Marc's philosophy of life. A classical music lover, he questioned why she hadn't pursued her ambition to be a concert pianist, and this left her questioning her current life.
She had clearly developed strong feelings for Marc and one is left with the impression that her marriage and family were no longer satisfying her. She is taken off Marc's case, as the company wants a fast settlement, and it stops his interim payments to pressurise him. Florence takes the unusual step of recommending a lawyer, an old college friend, and Marc realises that her interest in him perhaps extends beyond the professional-client relationship.
Marc Guermont is a stunt horseman who is seriously injured during a scene. The take involves the horse and rider falling but after successfully doing this the horse, Othello, stamps on Marc's spine having been spooked by a dog. As a consequence he is left a T10 paraplegic.
Florence Kernel is the insurance assessor sent to settle his claim. Marc had already 'thrown out' the previous assessor when he had arrived at the hospital, and Florence had been sent to try a more gentle approach. But Marc felt that he was being short-changed and refused an early settlement. Florence, meanwhile, seemed to be beguiled by Marc's philosophy of life. A classical music lover, he questioned why she hadn't pursued her ambition to be a concert pianist, and this left her questioning her current life.
She had clearly developed strong feelings for Marc and one is left with the impression that her marriage and family were no longer satisfying her. She is taken off Marc's case, as the company wants a fast settlement, and it stops his interim payments to pressurise him. Florence takes the unusual step of recommending a lawyer, an old college friend, and Marc realises that her interest in him perhaps extends beyond the professional-client relationship.
A brief relationship follows, instigated when Florence visits Marc to give him recordings she made when interviewing him, which her lawyer said could help his case. Her action of recommending a lawyer in the first place was in fact illegal, and passing him company recordings was obviously a serious breach of trust with her employer, which eventually led to her dismissal.
So after this brief and tender affair, we assume that Marc received a much better settlement, while Florence returned to her family but with a revived interest in her piano playing.
The film then jumps a year and we see Marc, the man who was told that he would never ride again, competing in a dressage event, on Othello. And we see Florence starting to cry as she watches him on TV, her daughter sitting alongside seeming somewhat bemused as to why her mother is so upset.
So while the love affair was brief, the effect it had on both of them was profound. Yet another very human film from the French cinema. I liked the quote in the Guardian's review:
". . . this is about as bourgeois and Gallic as a film can be without actually dressing the characters in Breton shirts and draping ropes of onions around their necks, but the actors are undeniably magnetic..."
And speaking of Breton, Brittany was the location of Marc's house and stables.
So after this brief and tender affair, we assume that Marc received a much better settlement, while Florence returned to her family but with a revived interest in her piano playing.
The film then jumps a year and we see Marc, the man who was told that he would never ride again, competing in a dressage event, on Othello. And we see Florence starting to cry as she watches him on TV, her daughter sitting alongside seeming somewhat bemused as to why her mother is so upset.
So while the love affair was brief, the effect it had on both of them was profound. Yet another very human film from the French cinema. I liked the quote in the Guardian's review:
". . . this is about as bourgeois and Gallic as a film can be without actually dressing the characters in Breton shirts and draping ropes of onions around their necks, but the actors are undeniably magnetic..."
And speaking of Breton, Brittany was the location of Marc's house and stables.