Potiche is a French comedy set in 1977, and the title apparently means trophy wife in French. It stars Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu and was directed by François Ozon (Swimming Pool, 8 Women, and Under the Sand). Deneuve plays Suzanne Pujol, who’s father’s umbrella factory is now being run by her philandering husband Robert. Depardieu plays a former union organizer and current local political figure.
The film really feels like it came from the 1970′s, and it manages to blend broad comedy with some actual meaningful material. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and would give it 
out of 
. Question: Is the umbrella factory an homage to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, one of Deneuve’s earliest roles?
Everything Will be Fine is a Danish drama that is very hard to decipher, but I greatly enjoyed trying. The main character is Jacob, a screenwriter who is struggling with his latest script when he comes into the possession of some politically explosive photographs. He becomes obsessed with the pictures, dropping almost everything else in his life.
The reasons the film is difficult to decipher are that it has a convoluted timeline, and (you might not want to keep reading if you want to come into the film fresh) it’s not clear what is real and what is imagined by Jacob. I’ll give it a very strong out of .
Both seen on 3/9/2011 at Cinequest.
