The Good Life

This story may be incredible in contemporary France but it is based on a true story ,'the Fortin affair " ,and the father and his two sons were "on the run" from 1997 to 2009;for the record ,the "guilty" father was sentenced to two months imprisonment without remission.

Jean Denizot proclaims Renoir 's influence and he makes a wonderful use of the Loire valley,quiet places where you can shun a world that has made you outcasts (the girl hints at a nuclear power plant,probably that of Chinon,and that's all) .The movie focuses on the last year of this fringe family unit,when strained relationship between them begins :the older son ,who complains he's "still a Virgin lad" , disappears early in the movie before reappearing for an admirable scene : the youngest boy compares the lit up windows of a building to an "Advent Calendar" which the schoolteacher brought to her class:he left when it was his turn to open a window.

The screenwriters do not pass judgment on their characters: dad is a good man ,he lives for his children and -some call it emotional blackmail but it is not so ,for his children can return to their mom if they want to- he will give himself up,should they leave him.As for the mother ,we learn she is a "bourgeois" ,she is educated ,but she is never really blamed : the director avoids being biased and that may explain the abrupt ending.

But Jean Denizot was also influenced by Terence Malick and he tried to infuse American elements into his movie:"La Loire is our Mississipi"he reportedly said So,hello Huck Finn and moon river !IMHO,it's irrelevant:his movie does not sound American at all,and he succumbs to an usual contemporary vice: there're three country-folk cuts in the soundtrack,in English of course , whereas there ARE plenty of French old folk songs or contemporary works such as those of singer Renaud which deal with childhood nostalgia :"La Pêche A La Ligne ",notably, would suit the movie nicely

"La Belle Vie" (the title was borrowed from a Sacha Distel song,mentioned in the final cast and credits ,but not heard in the movie),despite some reservations,is an endearing work,and the Young actors ,the two boys and the girl give convincing performances ,if only for their spontaneity;Nicolas Bouchaud is a moving dad,tired of the world,who still tries to smile through the pain and to enjoy simple things ,like eating fish in front of a campfire ,even if he does not know what tomorrow will bring;it 's really the outcast against the whole world,but ,and it is much to Denizot's credit,he never feels sorry for himself and his son's last words show that he is proud of his rebel dad .

Not to be mistaken for Robert Enrico's eponymous movie (1963)

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"Un week-End Sur Deux" (Nicole Garcia,1990)