Populaire
Who knew a film about typing could be so adorable?!
This type of film is the kind I truly love, it is charming, light hearted, sweet , pretty and it is just so cute. Ok, the way I am describing it makes it sound so fluffy and girly and I assure you it is a lot more than that. Sort of.
Régis Roinsard’s Populaire is set in the late 1950s and depicts the tale of a young beautiful, yet clumsy, French girl. Rose (Déborah François) comes from a small village in France, she lives and works with her father in the town’s best shop. Encouraged to marry the son of the village’s mechanic and lead a rather mundane life in this village, Rose dreams of greater things. She wishes to become a “modern girl” and take up the profession of a secretary. She applies for a secretarial position in Lisieux , Normandy at an insurance agency which is owned by the charming and ambitious Louis Échard (Romain Duris). At the interview it is evident to Louis that Rose is not inclined to be a good secretary, but her confident and cheeky personality encourages her to persist to win the position. In the interview she demonstrates her speed typing ability. Charmed by this talent Louis grants her the post. Given a week’s trial sadly Rose lives up to his low expectations and does not demonstrate to be a very capable secretary. Instead of dismissing her Louis offers her an opportunity to coach her so that she can enter a speed typing competition. That’s right a speed typing competition. It would be like I don’t know us today,entering the fastest texter competition, or you know the best twerker (oh how our society has evolved…although I am happy that my computer did not recognise the word twerk). Anyway, Louis goes through great lengths to train Rose with the desire of crowning her as the world’s fastest typist.
This film is enchanting, it is romantic, funny and the costume design is simply delightful. I really did feel I was watching a film from the 1950s which I adore. The music was equally uplifting and suited the whole mood.
The storyline is simple yet rather clever at the same time. The characters transform what could arguably be considered a rather mundane competition into a really exciting one. Profoundly, it is the romance that pushes this story further. The chemistry between Duris and François is undeniable. But then again, to be honest when Duris is involved , there is always chemistry. Is it me or is this man simply wonderful?.
The obsession he has with her entering the speed typing competition is rather alien to perhaps someone of our time. But his drive is actually rather adorable yet at the same time strange, which makes it rather comical. I guess it is an attempt to portray an angle of popular culture in the 1950s.
Rose is a combination of sweet and spice which made her an even more appealing character. Louis gave the impression of being a hard-core businessman but in fact he is like a little marshmallow. Supporting these two actors is the Artist’s Bérénice Bejowho plays Louis’ childhood friend and old flame who actually ends up marrying Bob (Shaun Besson) an American soldier. This couple serve the purpose of explaining Louis’ behaviour and character. Marie in particular explains his attitude about love and represents the concept of the one who got away, which encourages Louis to not repeat the same mistake again. The performance from the cast was natural and reflected the 1950s rather successfully.
I love the charming story and the characters but what I found most enchanting is the attention to detail in costume design. The dresses were stunning, it was like a little fashion catwalk, showcasing the elegant and flirty style of the 1950s.
Profoundly, I found the film to be “superficial”, not in a negative sense, but in the sense that it was not highly didactic or yearned to send out a message. It was a film about love and typing. It was however interesting to see how females were portrayed in the 1950s and this whole concept of a modern girl. It lightly touched upon sexual freedom and women not necessarily waiting for marriage to sleep with someone. However, I doubt that Roinsard was trying to address a feminist issue here, but perhaps developing this would have given this film a bit more depth.
Apart from this I truly adored this film. It is a delightful and bewitching romantic comedy. So if you like cute stuff, you admire the 1950s , you love fashion and a sweet romantic story then I would highly recommend this film.
This type of film is the kind I truly love, it is charming, light hearted, sweet , pretty and it is just so cute. Ok, the way I am describing it makes it sound so fluffy and girly and I assure you it is a lot more than that. Sort of.
Régis Roinsard’s Populaire is set in the late 1950s and depicts the tale of a young beautiful, yet clumsy, French girl. Rose (Déborah François) comes from a small village in France, she lives and works with her father in the town’s best shop. Encouraged to marry the son of the village’s mechanic and lead a rather mundane life in this village, Rose dreams of greater things. She wishes to become a “modern girl” and take up the profession of a secretary. She applies for a secretarial position in Lisieux , Normandy at an insurance agency which is owned by the charming and ambitious Louis Échard (Romain Duris). At the interview it is evident to Louis that Rose is not inclined to be a good secretary, but her confident and cheeky personality encourages her to persist to win the position. In the interview she demonstrates her speed typing ability. Charmed by this talent Louis grants her the post. Given a week’s trial sadly Rose lives up to his low expectations and does not demonstrate to be a very capable secretary. Instead of dismissing her Louis offers her an opportunity to coach her so that she can enter a speed typing competition. That’s right a speed typing competition. It would be like I don’t know us today,entering the fastest texter competition, or you know the best twerker (oh how our society has evolved…although I am happy that my computer did not recognise the word twerk). Anyway, Louis goes through great lengths to train Rose with the desire of crowning her as the world’s fastest typist.
This film is enchanting, it is romantic, funny and the costume design is simply delightful. I really did feel I was watching a film from the 1950s which I adore. The music was equally uplifting and suited the whole mood.
The storyline is simple yet rather clever at the same time. The characters transform what could arguably be considered a rather mundane competition into a really exciting one. Profoundly, it is the romance that pushes this story further. The chemistry between Duris and François is undeniable. But then again, to be honest when Duris is involved , there is always chemistry. Is it me or is this man simply wonderful?.
The obsession he has with her entering the speed typing competition is rather alien to perhaps someone of our time. But his drive is actually rather adorable yet at the same time strange, which makes it rather comical. I guess it is an attempt to portray an angle of popular culture in the 1950s.
Rose is a combination of sweet and spice which made her an even more appealing character. Louis gave the impression of being a hard-core businessman but in fact he is like a little marshmallow. Supporting these two actors is the Artist’s Bérénice Bejowho plays Louis’ childhood friend and old flame who actually ends up marrying Bob (Shaun Besson) an American soldier. This couple serve the purpose of explaining Louis’ behaviour and character. Marie in particular explains his attitude about love and represents the concept of the one who got away, which encourages Louis to not repeat the same mistake again. The performance from the cast was natural and reflected the 1950s rather successfully.
I love the charming story and the characters but what I found most enchanting is the attention to detail in costume design. The dresses were stunning, it was like a little fashion catwalk, showcasing the elegant and flirty style of the 1950s.
Profoundly, I found the film to be “superficial”, not in a negative sense, but in the sense that it was not highly didactic or yearned to send out a message. It was a film about love and typing. It was however interesting to see how females were portrayed in the 1950s and this whole concept of a modern girl. It lightly touched upon sexual freedom and women not necessarily waiting for marriage to sleep with someone. However, I doubt that Roinsard was trying to address a feminist issue here, but perhaps developing this would have given this film a bit more depth.
Apart from this I truly adored this film. It is a delightful and bewitching romantic comedy. So if you like cute stuff, you admire the 1950s , you love fashion and a sweet romantic story then I would highly recommend this film.