The story here is clearly intended to be just as full of joy, heartbreak and extreme sentimentality as the torch songs Laura performs with such aplomb. Needless to say, Huppert does her own singing and proves that if the acting ever failed, she could probably carve out an alternative career as a chanteuse.
It’s not the most promising of set-ups, but Huppert has a lightness of touch that makes it all rather sweet and the film takes an unassuming approach to the central romance, pleasingly refusing to make a big deal of the age difference.
A sentimental fairy tale of a film, Souvenir is perfectly pleasant but entirely forgettable.
Isabelle Huppert fails to convince as a former Eurovision singer who’s persuaded to return to the stage.