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La Bataille de Solférino
Age of Panic
France 2013
produced by Emmanuel Chaumet for Ecce Films
directed by Justine Triet
starring Laetitia Dosch, Vincent Macaigne, Arthur Harari, Virgil Vernier, Marc-Antoine Vaugeois, Jeane Ara-Bellanger, Liv Harari, Emilie Brisavoine, Vatsana Sedone, Colin Ledoux, Chloé Lagrenade, Maxime Schneider, Guilhem Amesland, Aurélien Bellanger, Zine-Zine Sidi Omar, Kea Tek, Lan Zi Lang Jie, Ayako Kawauchi, Min Tang, Stéphane Laffargue, Francis Barbaud, Benjamin Barteau, Clément Bourion, Jougla Gimer, Pierre Grandjean, Nicolas Manteau, Ludovic Pellois
written by Juistine Triet
review by Mike Haberfelner
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TV journalist Laetitia (Laetitia Dosch) is totally stressed out because
she is to cover the French elections, the babysitter Marc (Marc-Antoine
Vaugeois) has only just arrived and seems to be a rookie, the kids (Jean
Ara-Bellanger, Liv Harari) are crying, her boyfriend Virgil (Virgil
Vernier) talks talks talks without helping any - and oh, her ex-husband
Vincent (Vincent Macaigne) is downstairs and insists on his visitation
right. She turns him down of course, then leaves the house ... and as soon
as she's gone, Vincent is in, and Marc has to call the neighbour (Vatsana
Sedone) to throw him out. When he tells Laetitia about it, she freaks out
a bit because Vincent has a history of violence (though he'd never hurt
his kids), and she tells Marc to bring the kids to her - though she's in
the middle of a big crowd that's awaiting the election results. Problem
is, Vincent is heading their, too, and finding his children in the middle
of a crowd freaks him out ... to an extent that he's eventually
apprehended by the police and only released hours later. Later that
night, Vincent brings his lawyer Arthur (Arthur Harari) - who isn't
actually a lawyer yet - to Laetitia to demand his right to see the kids
(even though they are already sleeping), and he and Laetitia get into a
war of words almost immediately that's on the verge of turning physical,
and Arthur has a hell of a time to mediate (but almost fails). It's only
when Virgil shows up and starts to talk talk talk that the situation is
actually defused ... While tackling some very serious issues, La
Bataille de Solférino is above all else fun as it highlights the
comedic aspects of the situations, even when the two exes are fighting and
the like. That's achieved by sharp dialogue, a very light-footed
directorial approach, and a great cast playing great characters (which
also goes for supporting roles). However, La Bataille de Solférino
is far from a perfect film, basically it lacks a proper ending, and in the
end drags on too long without getting anywhere. In a word, it certainly
could have done with a re-write and some tightening ... but as it is, the
movie's good fun still.
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