When her husband is taken hostage by his striking employees, a trophy wife (Deneuve) takes the reins of the family business and proves to be a remarkably effective leader. Business and personal complications arrive in the form of her ex-lover (Depardieu), a former union leader. Read more …
The basic plot would be sufficient to sustain a crowd-pleasing comedy but Potiche has hidden depths and unexpected layers as it revisits a time when men were chauvinists and women were about to show them who was really the boss.
This is feminism-lite and director François Ozon plays it for laughs, revelling in his pastel vision of the ’70s.
Like a Gallic Nine To Five ('Neuf a Cinq'?), Ozon's comedy is a uniquely French skew on the gender politics of the home and the workplace. It's mostly funny, fast and fondly made although it drags a little towards the end.
Potiche is a potent comedy for these conservative times.
Watching Ozon reconnect with his inner populist is a simple pleasure in lots of ways, but he proves there’s no need to banish nuance for fun’s sake.
A warm-hearted story of a woman’s rise in a man’s world belies a biting satire.
Though it drags its feet a little in the later stages, there’s still much to enjoy as layers are peeled away and old secrets revealed, with lots of silly laughs along the way.
As subtle as the wallpaper of the time.
It's as if Douglas Sirk had remade a seventies sitcom – in fact it's adapted from a play – while Gérard Depardieu as an old flame of Suzanne's brings ballast to the flyaway confection.
The relentlessly arch tone Ozon adopts proves too grating and any enjoyment comes from the goodwill generated by its star.
Potcihe is a perfume scented doodle, as fluffy and pretty as candyfloss, with as little substance.
Offers frothy fun underpinned by some astute observations about the dawn of feminism and the seismic changes in French society at this period.
I can't think when we've seen a national monument having so much fun.
The film is certainly funny and attractive, and if at times it risks being somewhat decorative and hollow, there is always Deneuve at its heart, smiling and burning like ice.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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