A Vendre

(For Sale)

A film by Laetitia Masson (France, 1998),

with Sandrine Kiberlain, Sergio Castellitto, Jean-François Stévenin, Chiara Mastroianni, Roschdy Zem.

Who's France Robert and why she keeps running away from all those who starts to get too close to her is anybody's guess. A blasé private investigator is aked to find her. At any costs. As the investigation gets deeper and deeper and although the two characters have never met, a strange virtual symbiosis starts to proceed between them, as if the common experience of loneliness was stronger than anything else...

The very concept of this story is merely fascinating: loneliness as a protection. France Robert (Sandrine Kiberlain) and Luigi Primo (Sergio Castellitto) embody two different attitudes to that effect: the former chooses detachment, the latters opts for isolation. Laetitia Masson's direction is very tough. Too tough. It might well be her artistic choice to depict this in a cold -almost clinical- blunt way but the consequence of this is that we are NOT moved neither actually concerned. Unfortunately. The characters don't particularly look nice and even when their disarrays are blatant, we can hardly sympathize with them. Sandrine Kiberlain and Sergio Castellitto's understanding of each other is too exclusive for us to feel involved anyhow. We -well, at least I- have the impression to intrude in a way too private business. Nevertheless, Laetitia Masson is undoubtedly an interesting and bold author and we look forward to checking out further productions of hers.

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