Michele, a woman with a severe gambling addiction, must flee her home with her teenage daughter. Owing a great deal of money to a former boyfriend, she seeks a new venue rather than face up to her debts. Her first choice of shelter is her mother's house but complications arise when her mother's male companion makes advances to Michele. Where to go? Well, what about the mansion of childhood friend Janine? Janine, an uptight matron of two children, feels compelled to help her longtime friend. Perhaps she needs some company herself, due to her husband's frequent business trips. Janine has a lovely daughter near in age to Michele's Marguerite. However, they are not similar at all. Marguerite stays out at parties into the A.M. while Janine's daughter is sheltered and timid. Nevertheless, the two become friends, just as the mothers maintain some sort of connection, too. However, Michele borrows money to gamble, Marguerite is a girl in trouble, and Janine, reaching out in friendship to a lady in town, learns a miserable secret about her husband. No one here, it seems, gets out alive and happy. This seering film has a provocative nature, it's true, but it also shines a great deal of light on the reality of the human condition today.All the players turn in fine, fine acting performances. Michele seems to be caught in a web of a modern entrapment while Janine, too, has gambled on a comfortable life that comes with an absentee husband. The daughters, typical rebellious teenagers who both love and loathe their mothers, reach out to each other for hugs and support in the treacherous young adult world, complete with date rape drugs and no role models. This is not a pretty world, despite Janine's lovely environs of house, garden, and swimming pool. In the milieu of modern society, for some, there may be no fairytale opportunities. Or, have they themselves banished the chances for their own best interests? This daring film is not for those who want to see the world as all sweetness and light but rather for viewers who want to invite discussion of modern issues and problems. As food for thought, this movie qualifies as a feast.
Familia
(2005)
Not your typical familia...but a seering look at the reality of families today
1 September 2006