ENTRE-NOUS Movie Review

Between Us
Coup de Foudre
At First Sight

In the 1950s, Madeleine and Lena (Miou-Miou and Isabelle Huppert), two married women, meet and learn about each other; only then do they come to realize how disillusioned and dissatisfied each of them is with her marriage and her life. Diane Kurys's glossy 1983 film (released in France as Coup de Foudre) was widely championed on the film festival circuit as a pioneering feminist film, but its status as a pioneering work—as well as its feminist credentials—may be open to some question. The husbands of Madeleine and Lena (Guy Marchand and Jean-Pierre Bacri) are jerks, and while it's difficult for their wives to readily dismiss them as such, it's easy for the audience. The multi-year friendship that bonds the two women is pleasant enough to be around while the picture's on, but it feels insubstantial; an hour later you'll be hungry again. As with all of Kurys's work, Entre-Nous is splendidly crafted and beautiful to look at. I only wish it were more engaging.

NEXT STOP … Peppermint Soda, Cocktail Molotov, C'est la Vie

1983 (PG) 112m/C FR Jean-Pierre Bacri, Patrick Bauchau, Jacqueline Doyen, Isabelle Huppert, Miou-Miou, Guy Marchand; D: Diane Kurys; W: Alain Henry, Diane Kurys; C: Bernard Lutic; M: Luis Bacalov. Nominations: Academy Awards '83: Best Foreign-Language Film. VHS MGM