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IN THE COURTYARD Send This Review to a Friend
“In the Courtyard” (Dans la cour”) was showcased at the 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema series and now is in commercial release. Nicely directed by Pierre Salvadori, the film is a charming and very human, sometimes amusing drama starring Catherine Deneuve in yet another striking performance. Deneuve, long an icon of cinema, French or otherwise, plays Mathilde, who once was a social worker, but now is living in a comfortable, upscale apartment building with her husband, Serge, persuasively played by Féodor Atkine.
Antoine (Gustave Kervem) is an out-of-work musician in need of a job. When he seeks a caretaker position in Mathilde’s building, she goes to bat for him and gets her husband to hire him. Antoine is hardly qualified for the job, but he gets into it as he goes along, and best of all, he develops a friendship with Mathilde.
Meanwhile, Mathilde is little by little losing her bearings, and she becomes increasingly dependent on Antoine. Deneuve is superb in the role, and what develops is a film that is sometimes droll, sometimes poignant, with the director making the most of the opportunity to explore the characters. A Cohen Media Group release. Posted April 10, 2015.
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