The Elegance of Madame Michel

With the film adaptation of the bestseller "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" by Muriel Barbery, 29-year-old Mona Achache makes an entertaining as well as endearing cinematic debut that has rightly become an audience favorite in France and is now preparing to conquer the hearts of German moviegoers as well. This enchanting film is certainly to be wished for.

The 11-year-old Paloma (Garance Le Guillermic) is certain: she has seen through exactly how her life will continue. No need, then, to really go through the misery to the bitter end. And so Paloma decides to leave life voluntarily on her 12th birthday. Until then, there are 165 days left, which Paloma wants to record accurately with an old camera. Her wealthy but completely dysfunctional family is a particular target for the girl. But Madame Michel (Josiane Balasko), the always grumpy concierge in the elegant apartment building where Paloma lives with her family, also becomes part of the film. The girl quickly realizes that the shark master, like her, also lives in a world all her own, one that no other person has ever penetrated. This changes when the elegant Japanese man Kakuro Ozu (Togo Igawa) moves into the house. The mysterious man develops a friendly relationship with both Paloma and Madame Michel. Especially the gruff concierge seems to blossom in the presence of Monsieur Ozu. But can she really break out of her grey everyday life in the long run?

"The Elegance of Madame Michel" captivates with a wonderful mixture of black humour, a touch of romance and touching melancholy. A film that allows its viewers to laugh as well as cry, that tells them an enchanting story about friendship and the beauty that lies in the small, inconspicuous things in life in an extremely entertaining but also moving way. Achache allows himself to reach into the cliché box and lacks the subtlety that otherwise makes the humor of the film so successful. But despite these small weaknesses, "The Elegance of Madame Michel" has become a wonderful film that celebrates an extremely poetic melancholy in its very own way.

The whole thing is carried by three great actors. Josiane Balasko shines as Madame Michel both in the moments when she can't really win the audience's sympathy with her sullen look and gruff manner, and in the moments when that harsh facade breaks down and something like happiness and contentment appears on her face. Togo Igawa's Monsieur Ozu, with his always friendly, very reserved manner, is the exact opposite of Madame Michel, at least at first glance. But as soon as he manages to melt the caretaker's icy shell with his intense warmth, it becomes clear that perhaps two kindred souls have met here.

Really great, however, is Garance Le Guillermic, born in 1997. Paloma could have easily become unlikable and annoying with her very precocious manner. But the young actress succeeded in portraying the self-confident girl with a death wish in a very endearing and, at the right moments, vulnerable way, making Paloma the film's great sympathizer.

"The Elegance of Madame Michel", even if the film is very sad at times, is genuine feel-good cinema that leaves the viewer with one laughing eye and one crying eye. A nice little film that can be recommended not only to lovers of French cinema, but to all arthouse fans. Worth seeing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp