Humiliation according to Jaoui-Bacri in Let It Rain

17/09/2008

Launched by StudioCanal on 412 screens, Agnès Jaoui’s Let It Rain [+see also:
trailer
film profile] is the main attraction among the 10 new releases hitting French screens this week.

Lauded by most critics, the film marks the return of the director-actress and her collaborator Jean-Pierre Bacri, who join forces for the first time with popular actor Jamel Debbouze (Days of Glory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jean Bréhat
interview: Rachid Bouchareb
film profile]). The feature – whose cast also includes Pascale Arbillot and rising star Florence Loiret-Caillet – explores human relationships in a more comic and sentimental vein than the director’s previous works.

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Screenwriting couple Jaoui - Bacri won three Cesar awards for Best Screenplay (Smoking/No Smoking in 1994, Family Resemblances in 1997 and Same Old Song in 1998, as well as Best Supporting Actor and Actress), before Jaoui set about directing. Her efforts were rewarded with the success of It Takes All Kinds (3.8m admissions in France in 2000, an Oscar nomination and four Cesar awards, including Best Film and Best Screenplay) and Look At Me [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Best Screenplay at Cannes in 2004 and 1.6m admissions in France).

Set in the South of France, Let It Rain traces the misadventures of a duo who are making a documentary about a feminist politician (Jaoui). But nothing goes as planned for the declining director (Bacri) and his alter ego (Debbouze), the son of the politician’s housekeeper.

A series of almost burlesque episodes follow, providing the opportunity to explore the subject of humiliation and relations of submission (volontary or otherwise). Jaoui commented: "Everyone feels humiliated, or more specifically the victim of an injustice or discrimination" (sexism, racism, lack of love, social status, etc). The director continued: "Nowadays, lots of people consider themselves victims and become locked in this frame of mind (…). The problem is that everyone feels more of a victim than others."

Produced by Les Films A4 for €12.24m, Let It Rain received co-production backing from France 2 Cinéma and pre-sales from Canal + and TPS.

Also hitting screens this week are Christophe Honoré’s La belle personne [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Le Pacte - 48 screens), Madonna’s UK production Filth and Wisdom (La Fabrique de films - 105 screens) and two French documentaries: Daniel Leconte’s It’s Hard Being Loved by Jerks (Pyramide - 62 screens) and 20 minutes de bonheur (“20 Minutes of Happiness”) by Oren Nataf and Isabelle Friedman (Shellac – three screens).