Le Nouveau Raz-de-Marée - A New Movement in French Cinema?
CW: Heavily implied sexual assault in film
Shannon O’Riordan
---- Je ne suis pas un homme facile ----
GENRE: Comedy
FAVOURITE QUOTE: « Plus on est nombreux, mieux c’est »
FAVOURITE SCENE: About ¾ of the way through the film, a group of middle-aged men walk through Paris with silicone boobs taped to their chests…
FILMS IT MIGHT REMIND YOU OF: A bit like a French, funnier, Bridget Jones, but if it actually tackled serious issues
RATING: * * * * * * (5/6)
Credit: Je Ne Suis Pas Un Homme Facile. Directed by Éléonore Pourriat, performances by Vincent Elbaz, Marie-Sophie Ferdane, Pierre Benezit, 2018. Netflix, https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80175421
Column II
“Bring back manly men”. These were the words of US political pundit, Candace Owens, following Harry Styles’ controversial Vogue photo shoot, in which Styles posed in several items of “women’s clothing”. It is clear that this debate has become about far more than simply Styles’ fashion sense, and has instead become the catalyst for the eruption of years of discontent that has been brewing amongst people (predominantly men) who think that a man wearing a dress is something that has the power to bring down the very foundations of (patriarchal) society.
I don’t mean to diminish how much progress we have made in terms of the loosening of traditional gender roles and forms of gender expression; even just within the past decade, lots has been achieved. But given the global mainstream media are currently debating a man’s right to polish his nails or wear a dress (for fear of him becoming ‘less of a man’), I think it goes without saying that there is still a very long way to go.
This topic has of course been making its way into all forms of mainstream media for years, but few have tackled it in such a head-on manner as the director of the film I have chosen for this week’s article: the 2018 French Netflix Original, Je ne suis pas un homme facile (‘I am not an easy man’). Masked as a generally light-hearted comedy, this film is actually a pretty brutal critique of the sexism which is still present in French society, and it was very interesting to rewatch it in the current social context.
Christophe as the stay-at-home dad
Credit: Je Ne Suis Pas Un Homme Facile. Directed by Éléonore Pourriat, performances by Vincent Elbaz, Marie-Sophie Ferdane, Pierre Benezit, 2018. Netflix, https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80175421
Je ne suis pas un homme facile opens with a flashback, introducing us to Damien (Vincent Elbaz), and sets up his difficult relationship with gender expression and its relation to his identity, proposing an explanation (but definitely not an excuse) for his behaviour throughout the rest of the film. The next few minutes of the film act as a little prelude to the ‘real’ part of the film, introducing all of the characters and the way in which they interact with one another.
In one single scene in a bookshop, we are introduced to all the core characters and made aware of the archetype they are supposed to represent. Damien: the misogynist business big-shot who shamelessly flirts with (or, some may say, harasses) every woman he sees around Paris; his friend Christophe (Piere Benezit): a popular writer, ready for his book signing; Christophe’s assistant, Alexandra (Marie-Sophie Ferdane): the powerhouse woman behind Christophe’s success, lacking the recognition she deserves; and Christophe’s wife, Sybille (Blanche Gardin): a pregnant woman who suspects her husband of cheating and is left to cook, clean, and look after her children all by herself. Don’t let yourself get *too* attached to any of them though, for everything might not be as it seems…
Damien - The subject becomes the object
Credit: Je Ne Suis Pas Un Homme Facile. Directed by Éléonore Pourriat, performances by Vincent Elbaz, Marie-Sophie Ferdane, Pierre Benezit, 2018. Netflix, https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80175421
Perhaps quite predictably, one bang to the head later, the world is turned upside down. The signpost which says ‘Cimetière du Père Lachaise’ suddenly says ‘Cimetière de la Mère Lachaise’ and the viewer, along with Damien, is thrown into a world where women dominate, and all stereotypical gender roles are upended. We see Alexandra go from the unappreciated assistant to a famous (and powerful) writer and Christophe go from the inattentive husband to a stay-at-home dad, whilst Damien, moving from subject to object, tries to grasp exactly what has happened to him. As a result, the rest of the film follows Damien’s development as he learns to understand the alternate reality he is living in, and his journey to the moment of realisation when he finally understands how his behaviour in his old world was making women feel.
It sounds like an amusing concept, and I must say that, by and large, it works in practice. There are several scenes in this alternate reality which mirror earlier scenes in the ‘normal’ world, and which help to highlight the hypocrisy of some of the behaviour in modern-day France and also add to the humorous element of the film. However, I think it would only be right to state that several elements in this new world are overly stereotypical, and perhaps suggest that French culture is more backward than it actually is. For example, when the film shows the men acting as women traditionally might behave, we are presented with hysteric, overly camp men who enjoy plucking their eyebrows. And, when we see women acting as men traditionally might, we see them out on runs, topless, boobs unapologetically out and flailing everywhere, or counting their sexual encounters with marbles in jars. In short, the film is full of over-exaggerations which some might deem insensitive, or even consider to be something which undermines the critical aim of the film and, after my first viewing, I was inclined to agree.
'Meninist' graffiti in Alexandra's home
Credit: Je Ne Suis Pas Un Homme Facile. Directed by Éléonore Pourriat, performances by Vincent Elbaz, Marie-Sophie Ferdane, Pierre Benezit, 2018. Netflix, https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80175421
However, after a second viewing, I think that this over-exaggeration is actually central to the success of the film. Firstly, it helps the film ground itself completely in the ‘comedy’ genre and often causes some genuine laughs. Secondly, I think it helps the director to get her message across; her exaggeration of gender stereotypes means that she is able to make a clearer binary between the treatment of women and men, and allows for the exposition of everyday sexism by showing the manifestations of bigotry in its most extreme forms. The film is supposed to be a satirical critique of modern day sexism and the controversy surrounding gender expression, and, somewhat paradoxically, its cinematic weaknesses help it fulfil its purpose.
Given that Je ne suis pas un homme facile was the first original French film commissioned by Netflix, I think that it would be wrong to be overly critical of it, and I think that overall, the film achieved what it set out to do. The soundtrack is effective, much of the cinematography is nothing less than exquisite, the script is positively stuffed full of laugh-out-loud moments, and the acting fits the genre very well, so it is by no means a bad film. Admittedly, it lacks some nuance, and its representation of the stereotypes of sexism, gender roles and gender expression is, at times, a little too on-the-nose, but I do think the director managed to use them to her advantage to help get her message across. All things considered then, Je ne suis pas un homme facile will, at the very least, give you a good laugh and leave you with something to think about.