Sur mes Lèvres (Read my Lips) | Review

Everyone needs a handyman.

Everyone has a bad streak in them-the difference is that some let it show a little bit too easily while others have it easier at keeping their emotions in check. Forget about the caricatured Bonnie and Clyde or Mickey & Mallory-like pairings that have multiplied in vast numbers ever sense Rick Blaine and co. took to the screen, because French cinema has brought a new twist to the ordinary ‘couple combination’ with director Jacques Audiard’s Sur mes Lèvres a smartly structured film that employs the romantic pairings and driving plot devices in the least likeliest of methods. When is the last time that an on-screening union was made up of two imperfect individuals that consists of a secretary and a secretary’s aid? Carla, – brilliantly played by Emmanuelle Devos (Dragon rouge) is not the blond secretary with the fantastic phone skills with the nail-file at hand-she is the “plain Jane”- a hearing impaired woman who gets stepped over at the office and has her desk used as a coaster for careless styrofoam coffee drinkers. Management decides that some hired help is needed, and the first candidate does the job. The man with a past Paul-Vincent Cassel (Irréversible) is just looking for a chance-and she obliges. A helping hand can go a long way, and his role goes beyond the boundaries of the just making photocopies.

Audiard’s primary focus in this picture is to build this relationship through the eyes of the viewer- the fact that they don’t fall into each others arms-is a deliberate choice-the sexual build-up and tension remains but doesn’t interfere with the fact that there are other important elements as to why they need each other-they both help one-another in the department of their weaknesses which are crossed out by the other person’s strength. They’ve been hardened by a life of being dealt a series of bad card hands and their growth as a unit is a by-product of their bizarre relationship. What I appreciated most about these characters is that they don’t look for viewer’s sympathy-the characters don’t comprise their individual pride in order to make connection with the viewer, but rather we see a relationship flourish with some bright points of humour is captured by a cautious selection of close-up shots. Once this relationship is established, the narrative and pacing of the film takes the viewer into a new direction-a bad apple will remain a bad apple and it becomes a simple question of time before we are deviated into the more darker elements that the screenplay has to offer.

The protagonist is introduced as the person who is “disadvantaged” with her obstacles-but the viewer gets clearly corrected with the notion that she might be less smart as she shows what to do with ugly sounds like loud music and a baby’s cry-she blocks them out and illustrates her capacity to easily read lips as other converse around her. As the plot line progresses Audiard uses this device intelligently; the emphasis is not placed on a clever gizmo with the regular ‘gotcha results’, -it is used to demonstrate the intelligence of the protagonist as well as the male counterpart. The second half of the film is the more intriguing part, as the film plot goes in a frightening underworld that leave a couple of bloodstains along the way- and what griped the viewer in the beginning -caring about these two oddballs is utilized to make the viewer care about their predicaments where there are no easy solutions or easy situations. Sur mes Lèvres is a great drama that turn the noir-thriller switch at the right moment-you never sure what will happen and how they will re-act, basically this is a story that scrounges on borrowed themes but comes off fresh- their romantic link is different from what we are used to seeing and the evolution of their relationship is a fresh, not to mention that I particularly liked how the haring impaired device was used. Kudos to Audiard for a great film- where the turning point was not the code to crack the safe but the ability to read lips and make out sounds and not to mention Devos & Cassel for their character portrayals and equally strong performances.

REVIEWED ON: AUGUST, 14 2002

Rating 4 stars