Up the Villa...

Villa Amalia
Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Xavier Beauvois
Director: Benoit Jacquot
Rating: 3 and a half (out of 5)

Summary: Huppert stars as Ann, a gifted musician whose sense of security falls to pieces when she witnesses her husband kissing another woman. Without hesitation she makes a clean break leaving him and everyone else from her life behind and travels to the Italian coast...

Villa Amalia details one woman's world being destroyed and an exciting and seductive new life being born, therefore it sinks or swims on the strength of its central performance - and Huppert does not disappoint.

In the wrong hands, Ann could potentially become a housewife caricature like Shirley Valentine but Huppert changes not only her mental tics and personality traits but also her physical appearance beyond the mere superficial. Sure there are scenes in which she simply cuts her hair and puts on more liberating, colourful dresses to show off her new freedom but Huppert manages to make her sunken, sullen face more colourful and wide eyed as she leaves her drab life behind and begins her journey of personal exploration. It is her performance that stops the film from simply becoming a travel memoir and instead makes it an intense and believable experience.

Director Benoit Jacquot deliberately and effectively lets this lead performance build the pace of the film rather than letting his own work become too obvious. Occasionally there are moments in which his pace is at odds with that of Hupperts, for example a five minute scene in which Ann makes her way across France and ditches mobile phones, changes clothing and transport links like she was Jason Bourne, but this is Jacquot simply "stretching his legs" - and who can blame him? This is a film in which the shackles of restraint are to be worn by the director and not his actors.

As Ann leaves France for Italy and the scenery changes to the more sunny climate of the Italian coastline, and the aforementioned Villa Amalia, the film becomes has the double edged sanguinity of the locals - with the camera panning up and down the cliffs as if it were attached to the head of a seagull and the once relaxing clear, blue seas becoming as relaxing as a Clear Blue pregnancy test. During this section of the film begins to play with Ann's identity, letting her explore darker, ambiguous areas such as suicide and a lesbian relationship with an inquisitive, sun drenched local. The Villa Amalia is beautiful, dangerous, enticing and something which Ann lost during her old life. Her emotional confrontation with her absent Father during a brief journey back to reality only serving to show her that she has run away just as he did - and it feels good.

Villa Amalia is Huppert's film. She gives a performance which only serves to cement her as one of the most capable actresses on the continent, continually challenging herself with roles which depend on her ability to display an emotional range with a reserved dignity. This is a tale of betrayal, identity and regret which manages to be engaging and beautiful to look at whilst also veering into unusual directorial flourishes on occasion. As is the case with many French films, it won't be to everyone's taste, but if you do decide to take a chance on the red, white and blue this summer then why not take a chance on the one without the stars.

Out: 25th June