Review of Cousin Cousine

Introduction

If anyone was going to make a light-hearted tale about the relatively taboo subject of family members knocking boots, it was going to be the French. In 1976`s `Cousin Cousine`, Victor Lanoux and Marie-Christine Barrault play Ludovic and Marthe, disillusioned thirty-somethings who meet at the wedding of Ludovic`s uncle and Marthe`s mother. Step-cousins of sorts, when they discover that their spouses were having it away in the bushes during the nuptials, the pair set about getting a little revenge. They strike up a platonic friendship with the intent of fooling the other halves into thinking something sordid is going on, but would you Adam and Eve it, something more sordid does end up happening...

Nominated for `Best Foreign Language Film`, `Best Original Screenplay` and `Best Actress in a Leading Role` at the 1977 Academy Awards, `Cousin Cousine` came home with nothing but commiserations and some seventies Oscar goodie bags. You could hardly say it was robbed, but nonetheless, it`s a fine French feature which hits most of the right buttons. It was also the recipient of an American remake, 1989`s `Cousins`, starring Ted Danson and Isabella Rossellini.

Video

What`s obvious is that it`s fullscreen 4:3. What`s less obvious is whether the framing is the result of pan & scan or an open matte filming process; there are no clear tells, and available technical specs are somewhat sketchy. There are no major technical issues which fault the transfer here. You`ll probably notice a little noise, a spot of moiré patterning in some of the backgrounds and the odd print blemish, but the film has clearly aged well, and the transfer is decent. The original widescreen theatrical ratio would have been much preferable, though.

Audio

Dolby Digital 2.0 with English subtitles, which is clear throughout.

Features

Not a jot.

Conclusion

Say what you want about our own cousins across the channel - love `em, hate `em or - in the case of Ségolène Royal - have naughty fantasies about them, if there`s one thing they do pretty well, it`s their grip on l`amour - although not necessarily among kinfolk. But by the same token, if there`s anything the French aren`t particularly known for, it`s la comédie. Despite a legion of foreign-created (although mostly British stereotyped) comic French characters and several eccentric and bizarrely black comedies, French cinema generally takes itself too seriously for the art of the funnies to become part of their celebrated celluloid artillery. As such, `Cousin Cousine` keeps the humour fairly simple and occupies a wavering genre middleground; part drama, part comedy, but neither dramatic or comedic enough to fit nicely into either category. It`s a subdued drollery of situations, less satirical, caustic or character-based than much of contemporary comedy, but the humour here meshes nicely with the story, a gentle tale of romance in which leads Lanoux and Barrault have sufficient warm chemistry to be believable, are flanked by some entirely likeable characters - most notably Marie-France Pisier and Guy Marchand as the cheating spouses (serial philanderer and neurotic oddball respectively) - and the piece benefits from a tight script. Despite a slow start, the subtle whimsy of it all is more than enough to keep your attention throughout, and even the somewhat charming predictability of it all is part of the fun. Lightweight, but certainly one to keep an eye out for.