Une femme de ménage (2002)

Director:

Claude Berri

Writers:

Claude Berri (writer)
Christian Oster (book)

Release Date:

13 November 2002 (Belgium)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

After his wife leaves him for another man, Jacques hires a housekeeper, Laura, to keep his Paris apartment in order...

Plot Keywords:

Housekeeper | Beach | Chicken | Paris France | Nudity

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Jean-Pierre Bacri	...	Jacques
Émilie Dequenne	...	Laura
Brigitte Catillon	...	Claire
Jacques Frantz	...	Ralph
Axelle Abbadie	...	Helene
Catherine Breillat	...	Constance
Apollinaire Louis-Philippe Dogue	...	Ernest, le barman
Amalric Gérard	...	Julien
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nathalie Boutefeu	...	Jeune fille au concert
Laurence Colussi	...	Femme à la terrasse
Djura	...	Chanteuse
Daniel Humair	...	Musicien
Xavier Maly	...	Assistant de Jacques
Pierre Michelot	...	Musicien
Abel Nahmias	...	Le voisin
René Urtreger	...	Musicien

Directed by
Claude Berri

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Claude Berri		writer
Christian Oster		book

Produced by
Claude Berri	....	producer
Pierre Grunstein	....	executive producer
Nathalie Rheims	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Frédéric Botton

Cinematography by
Eric Gautier

Film Editing by
François Gédigier

Casting by
Gérard Moulévrier

Production Design by
Hoang Thanh At

Art Direction by
James David Goldmark

Costume Design by
Corinne Jorry

Production Management
François-Xavier Bazin	....	unit manager
Aimeric Bonello	....	unit manager
Nicole Firn	....	production manager
Olivier Lagny	....	unit production manager
Jerome Pinot	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Judith Havas	....	third assistant director
Thierry Mauvoisin	....	first assistant director
Emmanuel Murat	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Philippe Boulenouar	....	construction manager
Frédéric Jourdan	....	carpenter
Yvon Moreno	....	property master
Jochen Rohrig	....	carpenter

Sound Department
Pascal Chauvin	....	foley artist
Michel Filippi	....	adr supervisor
Vincent Goujon	....	boom operator
Eric Grattepain	....	foley artist
Gérard Lamps	....	sound re-recording mixer
Nadine Muse	....	sound
Laurent Poirier	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
François Berroir	....	gaffer
Bernard Brégier	....	key grip
Xavier Cholet	....	electrician
Patrick de Ranter	....	Steadicam operator
Etienne George	....	still photographer
Eric Gies	....	electrician
Jean-François Grancher	....	best boy rigger
Tom Mitaux	....	electrician
Ludovic Petit	....	electrician

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Maira Ramedhan Lévy	....	costumes

Editorial Department
Gwenola Heaulme	....	assistant editor
Isabelle Julien	....	color timer
Lucile Sautarel	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Christian Chevalier	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Hélène Sebillotte	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Canal+
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC)
• Renn Productions
• TF1 Films Production

Distributors

• Maison Descartes (2003) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Mongrel Media (2003) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Fox Pathé Europa (2003) (France) (DVD)
• Palm Pictures (2003) (USA) (subtitled)
• Pathé

Also Known As:

A Housekeeper (International: English title)
The Housekeeper (USA) (review title)
I oikiaki voithos (Greece) [el]

MPAA:

Rated R for some sexuality/nudity and brief language.

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Australia:M | France:U | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | USA:R

Company:

Canal+

Goofs:

Continuity: At the end of the film, goes for a swim. When she returns to the beach, she is wearing a completely different bathing suit.

Filling the gaps, The Housekeeper tempts the spectator while cheats on him.

The best thing coming from this Berri film is that plausibility and prediction conspire to improve a weak plot. The spectator, however, gets the surprise of his life when, in a sudden twist, the film reveals he has been watching the wrong movie. Give the kudos to the actors: sexily believable and deceitfully ordinary. Jacques and Laura, the main characters in this autumn-spring old line plot, early show their true self. She, young and beautiful, knows he is in a middle of a sentimental crisis. He, mature and confused, is never deceived by her egotist intentions. A sexual relationship is sure to occur, and so it does. But, it comes as a strange mix of feelings and desires, that the film never gets it clear. That's the relevance of this story: life cannot be deconstructed and explained in terms of art. Just the mirror, as the good Stendhal knew almost two centuries ago. Une femme de menage (more explicative than the English title) is a quiet thought on the passing of chances and the options we make; and a lecture on the futility of adapting our expectations to a self-deceitful sense of self-importance.