Forget Me

Posted by Larita Shotwell on Monday, September 16, 2024

"Forget Me" will divide viewers into two camps: Those who find the heroine, played by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, an unbearably tiresome neurotic inventing passionate love affairs, and those who find her a sincerely befuddled woman in love, worthy of sympathy. Perf is eye-catching in either case. This first feature by Noemie Lvovsky shows great energy in capturing the world of young Parisians living life to the hilt on a shoestring. The Alain Sarde production could become a minor cult item among believers, though its reception offshore remains a question mark.

“Forget Me” will divide viewers into two camps: Those who find the heroine, played by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, an unbearably tiresome neurotic inventing passionate love affairs, and those who find her a sincerely befuddled woman in love, worthy of sympathy. Perf is eye-catching in either case. This first feature by Noemie Lvovsky shows great energy in capturing the world of young Parisians living life to the hilt on a shoestring. The Alain Sarde production could become a minor cult item among believers, though its reception offshore remains a question mark.

Nathalie (Bruni Tedeschi) is obsessed with Eric (Laurent Grevill), a hospital orderly who has had enough of her. She refuses to be cast off, and persecutes him at home and at work. Meanwhile, she dumps the nice boy she lives with, Antoine (Emmanuel Salinger). He’s deeply hurt and, when she leaves him, tells her he’ll never see her again.

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Rebuffed by Eric, Nathalie next alienates her best (and only) friend, Christelle (Emmanuelle Devos), by making a covert play for her boyfriend, Fabrice (Philippe Torreton). But Fabrice is as neurotic as she is, and kicks her out of bed before their betrayal is consummated. Brokenhearted and confused, Nathalie begins to sink into the depths of depravity. Only part of the audience will feel sorry about her decline.

Love or hate her character, Bruni Tedeschi (who bears little resemblance to her sister, Italian model Carla Bruni) is what makes “Forget Me” tick. She injects the hip script with nonstop nervous energy and turns in a shrill but believable perf as a middle-class girl who makes love her life. Her pestering phone calls to friends and lovers have a comic edge just this side of pathos, an ambiguity that Lvovsky plays on skillfully.

Rest of cast is on target, and technical credits are fine.

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Forget Me

(FRENCH)

  • Production: A Les Films Alain Sarde production. (International sales: Studio Canal Plus, France.) Produced by Sarde. Directed by Noemie Lvovsky. Screenplay, Sophie Fillieres, Emmanuel Salinger, Marc Cholodenko, from a story by Lvovsky.
  • Crew: Camera (color), Jean-Marc Fabre; editor, Jennifer Auge; music, Andrew Dickson; art direction, Emmanuel de Chauvigny; costume design, Francoise Clavel; sound, Ludovic Henault. Reviewed at Venice Film Festival (Window on Images), Sept. 10, 1994. Running time: 95 MIN.
  • With: Nathalie ... Valeria Bruni Tedeschi Christelle ... Emmanuelle Devos Eric ... Laurent Grevill Antoine ... Emmanuel Salinger Fabrice ... Philippe Torreton Denis ... Olivier Pinalie

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