Writer-director Bruno Dumont returns with France, a character-driven look into celebrity led by a fantastic Lea Seydoux performance, but which struggles to find its narrative focal point.
The film sees Seydoux (Spectre) as celebrity journalist France de Meurs, who begins to question the ethics and morals of her profession after a freak car accident. Dumont sets up France’s world of celebrity journalism in a very engaging manner. As France covers a story about a small militia attempting to confront jihadist terrorists, you see how she crosses certain ethical lines by staging shots and storylines to fit the angle she wants to tell, even going so far as using the language barrier to taunt the militia. Her rowdy, almost predatory conversations with her assistant, Lou (Blanche Gardin), shows how her celebrity persona has overtaken her journalistic responsibilities — a concept present throughout the film.
The ideas and issues surrounding celebrity journalism which Dumont explores play a pivotal role in France trying to understand herself. Intriguing questions about her stance on her show’s political discourse and the hypocritical stances she takes on them, are posed throughout the film. She eventually discovers the ugly side of celebrity journalism as she becomes the target of tabloids resulting in the loss of a sense of privacy. Dumont illustrates this slow loss of privacy by pulling back the camera to reveal a tabloid photographer peering out from a not-too-distant bush trying to photograph France. Her inability to escape her celebrity persona is further emphasized by scenes of a relationship taking a nasty, unexpected turn and being constantly asked for her photo. It’s a very intriguing to watch France not only face the monster she’s created but also attempt to breakout of this mold.
Lea Seydoux gives a wide-ranging performance that keeps you guessing as to what France’s real intentions are in each scene. You question if France’s kind actions towards a poorer family she accidentally causes harm to are real or just another way to bolster her celebrity image. Are her tears real or just another way for her to improve/manipulate the emotional impact of her stories. There’s something compelling about wondering what’s real and what’s not about France and Seydoux makes that curiosity endlessly enticing with the emotional tightrope she walks. Dumont recognizes Seydoux’s alluring performance and elevates it by often letting the camera linger on her face to let Seydoux’s facial expression deepen the mystery of what’s going on inside France’s head.
Unfortunately, a number of the film’s best elements — like its story and Seydoux’s knockout performance — are sadly knocked down the film’s weaknesses. The pacing is definitely sluggish. This film feels like an eternity due to how aimless the storytelling is. There are solid comedic moments in Seydoux’s performance including her dynamic with Gardin. Yet, there are moments that are ruined by being unintentionally funny. There’s a car crash sequence that’s supposed to be devastating because of the impact it has on France. However, it ends up being unintentionally ridiculous due to it being an overly elongated scene that is shot like a car commercial. Also, while the score from the late, legendary composer, Christophe has solid moments, there’s chanting that occasionally bleeds into the score that can be distractingly hilarious.
Sadly, not all of Dumont’s themes surrounding France being forced to face her lack of ethics in her work and celebrity persona end up leading to satisfying conclusions either. The film presents a lot of ideas about celebrity journalists and France trying to redeem herself, but it never allows them to come together to form a real conclusion. We get an idea that maybe she’s simply accepted that she’s too far gone and that this persona is all she’ll ever be. However, it feels like a forced conclusion especially since the film never builds a strong or clear arc for her because she’s so filled with ambiguity. This ambiguity allows for a great performance from Seydoux, but it doesn’t make for the easiest story to follow or fully connect with. Also, there are elements to France’s story surrounding her deteriorating relationship with her family that don’t hold as much emotional weight as they should despite having a big impact later in the film.
France is a great showing for Seydoux, but not much else. Dumont only presents interesting concepts and questions about the film’s titular celebrity journalist but sadly doesn’t provide equally interesting answers.
