MOVIE: THE HEDGEHOG
- Author:
- Michelle Porter
- Posted:
- Monday, 5 July 2010
In a Parisian apartment building, precocious 11-year-old, Paloma Josse films her family while commenting, with almost scathing honesty, on the absurdity of their bourgeois lives. “Pursue the stars. Don’t end up as a fish in a bowl,” she tells herself one night before falling asleep. When Mr Ozu moves into the building from Japan, he leads Paloma to Renee, the dowdy and cheerless concierge. Through their friendship, Paloma discovers that beneath the prickly surface is cultured and passionate lady, someone who surprisingly provides her with comfort and meaning. Although the film is shot with subtlety and nuance, giving it a naturalness that resembles everyday life, also allowing the characters to shine through and the friendships to develop, it leaves the film drifting from a strong story arc or any emotional impact. While this does occur at the end when the unexpected happens, it’s a little too late and somehow it doesn’t seem to fit what has been mostly a light and charming study of how we find meaning in our lives. (MP)
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Story posted on Monday, 5 July 2010, filed under Movies. Follow responses via the RSS feed.
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