LE BONHEUR DANS LE PRE (PG-13)
Director: Etienne Chatiliez
Stars: Michel Serrault, Eddy Mitchell, Sabine
Azema, Carmen Maura, Alexandra London, Eric Cantona, Francois Morel, Guiliane Londez
Running Time: 106 minutes.
Greg King interviews Etienne Chatiliez
Successful business man Francis Bergeade (veteran French actor Michel Serrault, recently seen in Nelly Et Mr Arnaud) is
undergoing a mid life crisis. The staff at his toilet seat manufacturing plant are on strike for better conditions, while on the
domestic front his cold and shrewish wife Nicole (Sabine Azema) and aloof daughter Geraldine (Alexandra London) make
his life misery, constantly berating him for his lack of attention or interest in their lives. During a lunch to belatedly celebrate his
40th birthday, Francis suffers a mild heart attack and collapses. While recovering, Francis thinks that his life might change for
the better, but even he could not see the unexpected directions he would follow.
One night his family is gathered around the tv, watching the popular audience participation show Where Are You Now? which
attempts to trace missing persons, and they hear the story of a woman and her two daughters from the rural town of Condom
who are looking for their husband and father who has been missing for over two decades. When the family show a photograph
of the missing person Francis is surprised to see a man who bears a striking resemblance to himself. Urged on by his
mischievous friend, Gerard, a used car salesman played with a wonderful note of insincerity by popular French rock star Eddy
Mitchell, Francis responds to the show, and eventually meets the distressed family, who raise geese on their farm.
He is seduced by the idyllic life, peace and warmth in the heart of rural France, and quickly finds happiness and contentment
with a family that is not even his. Francis is reluctant to return to his former life, finding that living a delicious lie is better than
facing up to the harsh reality of his previously meaningless and banal life style. But while Francis finds happiness in the fields of
the farm, the bitchy Nicole finds sexual satisfaction in the arms of Gerard, and both discover a mutual happiness that changes
their lives and the nature of their own relationship.
In this sharp, sophisticated and intelligently written black comedy, director Etienne Chatiliez (the sharply satirical Tatie
Danielle, etc) highlights the irony of Francis' situation with some gentle and appealing humour. At the heart of this quirky and
off beat comedy/drama are a number of important questions concerning families and relationships and the ephemeral nature of
happiness, themes common to Chatiliez's previous films.
Chatiliez draws good performances from a fine ensemble cast, that is most notable for featuring the film debut of soccer star
and human headline Eric Cantona, who rounds out a nice ensemble cast with a fine performance in a smaller role. Azema is
beautifully over the top and outrageous as the bitchy and self-centred Nicole, and her fiery performance offers a nice contrast
to Serrault's more understated and restrained approach to his role as Francis, another variation of the sort of comically
bemused Frenchman that has almost become his trademark.
The film also has a slick surface beauty, thanks to Phillipe Welt's striking cinematography, which is especially good in the
rural scenes. Le Bonheur Est Dans Le Per (Happiness Is In The Field) offers an unusual mix of the comic and the poignant,
and although the film moves along at an uneven pace, Chatiliez does try to occasionally lift the pace through injections of
generous doses of broad humour. However, many within the audience may find that this off beat comedy is a little too slow
moving, ponderous and not funny enough to suit their taste.