Anticipation.
Another year, anther François Ozon movie. Bring it on, I guess...
Enjoyment.
Another robust drama that ticks all the boxes in a very careful way.
In Retrospect.
Still waiting for the passion project that lifts him above the coffee table pack.
There’s something deeply alienating about the work of French cinematic odd-jobber François Ozon. Despite a preternatural ability to handle a range of tones and styles, there’s a nihilism at the core of his cinematic project. Everything Went Fine is another robust piece of coffee table arthouse fare which deals with the morals, ethics and emotions that come with the legally-tortuous act of assisted suicide. It is an adaptation of the 2013 memoir by the late French author and screenwriter Emmanuèle Bernheim, dourly played here by Sophie Marceau. It concerns the decision of her father (a fiery André Dossollier) to be taken to a specialist clinic in Switzerland following a stroke
and to have his life prematurely terminated.
What’s strange about the situation is that, even though his condition appears to improve to the point where he’s cognisant, sensitive and retains a level of autonomy, he’s adamant to go through with his scheme. Emmanuèle tries to softly coax him down from the ledge, but he’s a man that, seemingly, will not be moved. Shot during the pandemic, there’s a rough-and-ready visual quality to the film to the point where it feels like Ozon is something of an ambient presence, allowing his actors to do all the heavy lifting. It’s an engaging movie about being able to control one’s destiny, but the wait continues for when this director will pull something truly heartfelt out of the bag.
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