La prisonnière de Bordeaux

9.28 Pingyao The title is obvious. Even if the husbands are in prison, their ghosts (mixed with capitalist economy and patriarchy) still linger in the society where women live - the house. Men are prisoners in prison, and women are prisoners in the house. Therefore, the two women made completely different choices. The noblewoman fled with the artworks, allowing the artworks hanging in the villa to break free from the above discipline; while the poor returned to the prison to visit the prisoner with the spoils of parasitizing the rich, hoping to return to the patriarchal survival order. Although they seem to be completely different, they are actually the upgraded version of "Nora" with different paths to the same destination: artworks are not survival materials. The former may still starve to death if she escapes with artworks; while the latter is the successful begging version of Nora who returns and strengthens the poor family.

On this basis, the lesbian elements and the betrayal in the bathroom make girls help girls, a humanistic theme that transcends class and race, generate more reflexive thinking, that is, sometimes people want respect and emotion or material compensation. If the latter is enough, then what is the so-called mutual help and confrontation, and how to do it? Therefore, leaving with the artwork is a metaphorical response to the question of "Nora": after material abundance, can we escape the old gender order, and how do we face the hesitation and meaning loss brought by the deeper new gender order in our hearts. It's like the paintings in those movies. When they are not trapped in the circulation of the art market and the homes of men, how will their value be reflected and where will they go. These movies don't seem to try to respond, but only use a slightly contrasting ending to summarize: the rich escape, the poor reunite. Such an ending does not cater to the current slogan-style network-style "feminist" theme in any sense, but allows this doctrine to self-transform and self-betray under a small ambition, thereby enhancing the overall perception of the movie, which is concise and pleasant. Therefore, it is understandable that its shots and stories are lackluster.

The film was shortlisted for the Directors' Fortnight at this year's Cannes Film Festival. The script tells the story of an unlikely friendship between two women whose husbands are in prison. Alma (Isabelle Huppert), a sophisticated bourgeois woman, lives alone in her beautiful townhouse, while Mina (Afsia Elchi) is a young single mother in the suburbs who has to work hard to support her two children. Their husbands are inmates in the same prison. During a prison visit, the two women meet... The French title of the film, "la prisonnière" (the feminine form of the word "prisonnier", meaning a female prisoner, in the singular) seems to have hinted at the plight of a certain woman. On the contrary, the current Chinese translation does not specify that "prisoner" is of any gender. The opening of the film seems to have revealed 70% of the title - Huppert wanders around the flower shop. At the beginning, her figure is presented as a reflection in the ceiling mirror for a long time. Then she returns to her big villa alone with a large bunch of flowers and eats snacks alone. The director describes the "loneliness" of Huppert, a sophisticated bourgeois woman living alone in a big villa, effortlessly. This is not because the director is very skilled, nor is it because Huppert has superb acting skills - to be honest, she only needs to perform melancholy - but the villa is too luxurious and too empty, and it can be solved with just a few depressed empty shots and some panoramic and distant views of Huppert's melancholy. This is clearly a forced expression of sorrow for the sake of giving new words. Huppert's performance in this movie is simply difficult to appreciate, or maybe she is the character herself. The movie is not as the official introduction says, "Sans manichéisme et sans tiédeur." (No black and white, no double-mindedness), if not, the director's creation is counterproductive. She could clearly focus more on the character itself, but the audience only sees the symbol of a bourgeois lady. Perhaps a stranger's face would be much better than Huppert's. The two heroines this time also co-starred in a movie called "My New Friends" (Les gens d'à côté) at the Berlin International Film Festival just passed. The class and relationship of the two are even a bit similar, but the gap is bigger and deeper in this film. A scene in the film that very directly shows the class gap is that Huppert, without informing Mina, meets with a group of friends. The latter returns to the villa and becomes very restrained and at a loss when seeing this scene, while Huppert generously introduces her current female companion to all the glamorous friends. It's not that Huppert doesn't respect Mina. On the contrary, she does this because she doesn't look at Mina differently and truly regards Mina as a friend. But she has no empathy. She doesn't realize that they are not from the same class. People who are always at the bottom and the weak may remind themselves of the gap between themselves and others all the time. Why can people in a higher position and in a strong position ignore this gap? The protagonist is not ignoring it intentionally but is completely unaware of it, which is even more terrifying to some extent. Compared to Huppert, the young mother (Mina) played by Afsia Elchi is more vivid, but it is not ruled out that the bourgeois elite itself is boring. There is no "émancipation féminine" (female liberation) in the official introduction. Even the description of women is "male-friendly". Some old-fashioned plots (such as missing her husband by "smelling pants"), I wonder if it is because the director Patricia Mazuy is a French woman born in 1960? Maybe many concepts and views are still stuck in the past, at least in the eyes of young people today. The movie uses flashbacks. At the moment when Huppert returns home (that is, the beginning of the film), she never doubts the people involved in the incident-even if she has a little doubt, the normal reaction should be to go to Mina first to see if there is anything wrong-but she is alone in the kitchen eating snacks that may have been prepared for the two of them, and then slowly appears in front of Mina-leaving Mina tied in the bathroom disguised as a victim-this is simply a horror scene about the class gap. Looking back at the generous proposal Huppert made to Mina at the beginning, it is likely that behind it is the unconscious arrogance of the bourgeois elite and the seemingly gentle cruelty. The class gap can never be eliminated, even for two women who seem to be in the same boat. At the end of the film, the bourgeois romantic escape did solve the problem of a wife, but it was far from solving the problem of women, let alone touching on the problem of class.

Story summary:

Cannes Film Festival entry. Alma lives a wealthy but lonely life in Bordeaux, and her husband is in prison for drunk driving causing death; Mina is a young mother in Narbonne, and her husband is serving a sentence for stealing from a jewelry store. After the two met in the prison visiting room, Alma invited Mina to live with her, and Mina's husband's former accomplice showed up to ask for stolen goods. The film shows the story of these two women from different classes supporting each other and growing up in difficult situations.

Viewers are complaining:

Let’s check in with Isabelle Huppert again. When I first met her, her appearance was not gorgeous or eye-catching. However, no matter what role or story she plays, she can be as natural and ethereal as an elf, making the audience unforgettable for a long time after watching the movie.

This film breaks the simple presentation of class antagonism in conventional narratives, but delicately depicts how Alma and Mina, two women from different classes, go from strangers to understanding and support under the interweaving of fate. The film's narrative style is calm and delicate, like a slowly flowing stream. It does not pursue strong dramatic conflicts, but advances the plot in a way that is close to the flow of life. Director Patricia Mazo cleverly uses daily scenes and details, such as the layout of Alma's home and Mina's hard work, to gradually show the huge differences in the lives of the two and their inner emotional world.

Huppert's Alma has both the elegance and calmness of the bourgeoisie, and reveals her inner loneliness and confusion in her eyes and subtle expressions. In her interaction with Mina, her emotional changes are rich and varied, from initial sympathy to later sincere friendship, with a natural transition. Herzi vividly interprets Mina's tenacity and perseverance. In the face of many difficulties in life, her eyes always reveal an unyielding strength. The two have a tacit understanding in their rivalry, and both warm exchanges and contradictory conflicts show a very high level of performance, allowing the audience to deeply feel the emotional ups and downs and entanglements between the characters.

In terms of costumes and makeup, the film uses carefully designed costumes and scenes to vividly show the different social classes of the two protagonists. Alma's clothes are exquisite and elegant, and her home is decorated with valuable artworks, showing her wealthy living environment; while Mina's clothes are plain and simple, and her life scenes are full of the fireworks and hardships of life. This strong contrast not only enhances the visual effect, but also further strengthens the theme of the film. In terms of art design, the prison, Alma's home, and Mina's living environment are all very realistic, creating a real and credible story space for the viewer, allowing the viewer to better integrate into the life of the character.

Overall, this film is suitable for viewers who like deep dramas and are good at observing and thinking about human nature and social issues. It presents a moving story about female friendship and social class differences.

I really empathize with you.

How many people is Ms. Huppert in the film a replica of? She said that even with the worst people, you can still have fun - what a sad sentence. She knows how bad the reality is, but she chooses to deceive herself - because of a collage worth tens of thousands of dollars, she reconciled with a bad man.

How many metaphors of reality are these? In life, many people pretend to be happy and pretend to be happy, just like Isabelle Huppert in the film, who clearly does not expect her husband to be released from prison, but is still controlled by a terrible clockwork and takes the initiative to organize a party to celebrate her husband's early release from prison. In reality, many people know very well that they are not living well, and even prefer to live with a random stranger rather than their current partner, but these people who pretend to be happy will confine themselves to a prison because of various realistic factors and have no courage to leave. Because of some insignificant false signals, they convince themselves to accept a life that is like chewing wax.

Fortunately, Mina slapped Huppert awake. This is also a brilliant stroke in the film - the enemy wanted to get money from Mina's family, so he kept harassing and retaliating against Mina. Mina wanted to get rid of the enemy and protect her husband. In Mina's view, the collage happened to be Huppert's shackles. At this time, Mina chose to let the bad guys steal the painting, which was a best of both worlds.

Mina and her husband and Huppert and her husband are also a perfect contrast. These two couples make us clearly understand what love looks like and what it is not.

After choosing to leave, Isabelle Huppert finally smiled for the first time in a long time, a smile of relief. The lost look in her marriage finally disappeared at this moment.

There are several scenes of homeless people in the film. The director may want to ask, which kind of life is better - losing freedom in prison but having family visits, or having freedom to roam the streets without anyone caring about you?

The film has a good structure and a coherent beginning and end. The title is a pun - the husband is a prisoner in Bordeaux, so is the wife? And the music throughout the film is so beautiful!

Finally, in the movie, Huppert can have such a push as Mina, but do you and I have it in real life? This reflects the significance of the director's filmmaking. Thanks to this delicate female director!

The most important thing in life is the courage to start over again. I wish we all have the courage to leave at any time.

Isabelle Huppert easily controlled the empty and desolate life of a lonely middle-class woman who was betrayed by her husband and imprisoned, whether in daily life or spiritual life. The appearance of Mina was like a life-saving straw for her. It seemed that she helped Mina, but in fact, she used Mina to dedicate her "usefulness" that she could not perform, proving her existence. Yes, even if it was not Mina, it could be Nina, Anna... any helpless woman who needed help during the prison visit. Otherwise, she would not have been scolded by the old woman who applied for a prison visit 103 times while her husband was in prison for three years during one of the visits, "Don't meddle in other people's business!" But she really treated her sincerely and was willing to indulge in it because she was too lonely. But the string of reason was always in her mind, just slightly loose, so Mina's final self-directed and self-acted made her tighten the string immediately. She was shocked, painful, and unbelievable, but was forced to face what Mina said that she was unwilling to admit that she did not love her husband, and her husband had long stopped loving her. All this was meaningless, but it was just a performance she was willing to perform. Even the play she wrote was too grand, almost deceiving and covering up life, so the so-called home robbery play directed and performed by Mina was just a trick in her eyes. But she needed to perform, needed to perform visiting the prison again and again, as if she hoped that her husband would be released from prison early, come back to her side, and sleep in the same bed. That painting, in fact, is meaningless, as she said, it is not even the most valuable one. But her husband used it as a token of allegiance to win her back, making her feel needed, and the feeling of being needed proved that she really existed, even if she was trapped in the narrow road between the prison and the empty villa. But all these illusions were punctured by Mina, and she was somewhat angry. I think the most touching part of the whole scene was that after Huppert cut off this relationship that could not be described and defined in words, she sorted out the paintings at home at night, and sang softly while sorting. The more relaxed her tone, the more pain in her heart. That was a common moment for a lonely woman alone at home, and when she hummed a little tune, she sang a mina very naturally. That was the moment when they truly understood each other and illuminated each other's souls. Isabelle Huppert drove away in a truck loaded with valuable paintings, starting her journey of escape, and she was a free and elegant wealthy woman.