They say that friends are the family we choose. And from this saying we learn the lesson that we don’t choose our family: whether by luck or fate, we are assigned a group of people with whom we have to live for a while, sometimes even our entire lives. And it is because of this more or less random designation that the family is a constant subject in cinema. A recent premiere, which once again starts from family relationships to create comedy, is the French film Lola and Her Brothers.
Lola (Ludivine Sagnier) is the youngest of three children. Her brothers Pierre (José Garcia) and Benoit (Jean-Paul Rouve) are up in arms over a gaffe made by Pierre at Benoit’s wedding. The three brothers’ meeting point to talk is in front of their parents’ grave and it is from these meetings that the plot of the film develops. Although the brothers don’t share all their problems with each other, they are together, always willing to support each other.
Lola, a divorce attorney, is “getting to know better” a former client. Benoit is an optometrist at an optician and he’s been having trouble with the new machinery he uses at work, a machine that promises to scientifically define the best color for customers’ eyeglass frames. Pierre works with demolitions and the most recent one has caused a huge crack in a neighboring building, which is keeping him up at night.
Then Lola’s relationship evolves and she moves in with her boyfriend. Benoit finds out that he is going to be a father and Pierre loses his job around the same time his teenage son goes to study abroad. And that’s what happens: in the first half hour of projection, a central conflict uniting the brothers around them is not drawn, but real-life situations that affect each of them are presented.
Some situations, more specifically conflicts, are suggested but never developed. This happens when Lola’s sister-in-law Sarah (Pauline Clément) mentions that Lola prefers her “more tanned” men and also when Sarah goes out to dinner with Benoit’s two ex-wives. While avoiding conflict, the second half of the film is funnier, even if it deals with serious subjects.
Lola and Her Brothers was directed by Jean-Paul Rouve, who also plays Benoit, the goofiest brother. Rouve is also one of the names who sign the script, which is nothing extraordinary, but which engages and entertains. The other screenwriter is David Foenkinos, from the witty 2019 Henri Pick Mystery.
Lola and Her Brothers is a film about brotherhood in its literal sense. At one point, Benoit asks something like “what is the family for if it is not to share everything that is happening?” That’s why Lola and Her Brothers is a good movie to watch as a family, like on a leisurely Sunday afternoon.
