A precocious girl of eleven is as the center of this dramatic comedy that takes place in an upper middle class apartment building in Paris. Paloma lives with her parents and sister in a well appointed space. She has a vivid imagination and loves to videotape everything she sees, something that unnerves her sister and annoys the grownups in the household. She makes no bones in wanting to end her life when she turns twelve; for that, she has been steeling pills from her mother's and hiding them away.
Renee Michel is the woman in charge of cleaning the public areas of the building, as well as an assortment of jobs that must be performed. Renee likes Paloma because she finds a kindred spirit with no malice. Mme. Michel is a widow whose whole life is contained in the small ground floor apartment next to the entrance door. Even though her hours of work are posted for all to see, she is called upon different times to do things for the residents, something she feels strongly about. Unknown to all, Renee is a sensitive woman with a secret passion for literature. The inner room of her apartment is filled with the books she so enjoy, but that area is out of bounds for anyone calling at her door.
An older Japanese man, Kakuro Ozu, a widower, moves to a vacant apartment whose previous owner has died. Coming across Renee Michel one day, he says something, which gets an answer from her which he realizes is a quote from "Anna Karenina". Her favorite author happens to be Tolstoy, after whom she named her cat Leo. Kakuro makes a tentative move to invite Renee to his apartment for tea, as their friendship blossoms. Later on, he leaves an outfit for Renee to wear when he invites her for dinner. Renee, who had neglected the way she looks is suddenly transformed into a figure other people in the building do not even recognize when she is leaving with Kakuro.
This is a bittersweet comedy written and directed by Mona Achache who made her full length feature debut with the film. Ms. Achache also adapted the original novel by Muriel Barbery that was a success in France and in other countries. In fact, Ms. Achache's treatment works well in the screen because she got the essence of the novel in cinematic terms, something that the book narrative did not make an easy task for Ms. Achache.
It is basically a tale of loneliness and reconnection among the three principals in the story. Some remarks on this page of IMDb have been directed at the way the story makes no sense because, after all, how would any snobbish dweller of the building dare to even consider socializing with the lowly Renee, or for that matter with the supposedly great apartment of Kakuro owns and its transformation. If these viewers would have read the novel, they would have a different idea, in that the coming of Mr. Ozu into the building, causes all kinds of expectation by the curious neighbors while it was being remodeled. These are things that film creators and writers love to do even if they make no sense. Some fantasies do come true in real life, after all.
Josiane Balasko has one of her best opportunities as Mme. Michel. This is one of her best roles in quite some time and she does wonderful work for Ms. Achache. Same can be said of Garance Le Guillermic whose Paloma endears herself to the audience. Veteran Japanese actor Togo Igawa is perfect as Kakuro Ozu.
One can only hope Mona Achachu will go to bigger and better things in the not too distant future.
Renee Michel is the woman in charge of cleaning the public areas of the building, as well as an assortment of jobs that must be performed. Renee likes Paloma because she finds a kindred spirit with no malice. Mme. Michel is a widow whose whole life is contained in the small ground floor apartment next to the entrance door. Even though her hours of work are posted for all to see, she is called upon different times to do things for the residents, something she feels strongly about. Unknown to all, Renee is a sensitive woman with a secret passion for literature. The inner room of her apartment is filled with the books she so enjoy, but that area is out of bounds for anyone calling at her door.
An older Japanese man, Kakuro Ozu, a widower, moves to a vacant apartment whose previous owner has died. Coming across Renee Michel one day, he says something, which gets an answer from her which he realizes is a quote from "Anna Karenina". Her favorite author happens to be Tolstoy, after whom she named her cat Leo. Kakuro makes a tentative move to invite Renee to his apartment for tea, as their friendship blossoms. Later on, he leaves an outfit for Renee to wear when he invites her for dinner. Renee, who had neglected the way she looks is suddenly transformed into a figure other people in the building do not even recognize when she is leaving with Kakuro.
This is a bittersweet comedy written and directed by Mona Achache who made her full length feature debut with the film. Ms. Achache also adapted the original novel by Muriel Barbery that was a success in France and in other countries. In fact, Ms. Achache's treatment works well in the screen because she got the essence of the novel in cinematic terms, something that the book narrative did not make an easy task for Ms. Achache.
It is basically a tale of loneliness and reconnection among the three principals in the story. Some remarks on this page of IMDb have been directed at the way the story makes no sense because, after all, how would any snobbish dweller of the building dare to even consider socializing with the lowly Renee, or for that matter with the supposedly great apartment of Kakuro owns and its transformation. If these viewers would have read the novel, they would have a different idea, in that the coming of Mr. Ozu into the building, causes all kinds of expectation by the curious neighbors while it was being remodeled. These are things that film creators and writers love to do even if they make no sense. Some fantasies do come true in real life, after all.
Josiane Balasko has one of her best opportunities as Mme. Michel. This is one of her best roles in quite some time and she does wonderful work for Ms. Achache. Same can be said of Garance Le Guillermic whose Paloma endears herself to the audience. Veteran Japanese actor Togo Igawa is perfect as Kakuro Ozu.
One can only hope Mona Achachu will go to bigger and better things in the not too distant future.