The familiar and the feel-good combine in The Bélier Family (La Famille Bélier), and rarely in a subtle fashion. When a film explores the well-worn scenario of a teenager struggling to tell their parents about their dreams for the future, uses disability to complicate the situation, and sprinkles a missive about the power of music on top, understatement doesn’t seem high among the filmmaker’s priorities. Primarily favouring over-the-top performances and peppering broad comedy throughout only makes that more apparent.
Indeed, an exaggerated existence plagues teen-aged Paula Bélier (Louane Emera, in her first film role), with her family the reason for her heightened troubles. With her mother Gigi (Karin Viard, Week-ends), father Rodolphe (François Damiens, Playing Dead) and younger brother Quentin (fellow newcomer Luca Gelberg) all hearing-impaired, Paula acts as their interpreter in matters involving their dairy farm and market stall. Of course, while she assists in conveying their thoughts — even in situations as uncomfortable as her parents’ doctor’s appointments about intimate conditions — they rarely acknowledge hers.
Emblematic of their communication troubles, Paula opts not to share her latest news: after following cute classmate Gabriel (Ilian Bergala, Rue Mandar) in joining the school choir, she not only discovers her own vocal talents, but her desire to pursue her new pastime. Keeping silent proves difficult, particularly when her teacher (Eric Elmosnino, Hôtel Normandy) encourages her to audition for a prestigious music academy in Paris. Her father’s decision to run for mayor further complicates matters, as well as increases the need for her help at home.
Writer/director Eric Lartigau (The Big Picture) — working with co-scribe Thomas Bidegain (Saint Laurent), and adapting Victoria Bedos’ (French television series Paris 16ème) original idea and scenario as fleshed out with Stanislas Carré de Malberg (R.I.S. Police scientifique) — appears happy to let the majority of The Bélier Family proceed as expected, littering the path to several confrontations and performances with predictable developments. Each may explore aspects of the family dynamic, including the reliance upon Paula and her corresponding resentment and embarrassment, in order to stress how significant her wish to leave is; however in everything from the intermittent insertion of raucousness to the overt efforts of Viard and Damiens, the movie feels like it’s ticking boxes on a cheerful, cheesy, crowd-pleasing comedy checklist.
Thankfully, two choices temper the film’s formulaic leanings and ultimately save The Bélier Family from a grating outcome. Outshining her co-stars from the feature’s opening frames, Emera is the breath of fresh air the movie so desperately needs, as well as its equally necessary source of naturalism. Her voice, as first showcased on French TV’s The Voice, may have inspired her casting, yet it’s her demeanour that the true grounding force. As more experienced actors around her ham it up to almost cartoonish extremes, she ensures Paula remains a genuine and believable presence.
Lartigau’s second standout decision has its misses as well as its hits, but it gives the film’s themes an effective stylistic counterpart. Choosing not to subtitle the sign-language components is the reason many of the narrative antics feel over-stretched and –stressed, all while making the communication issues at the centre of the story hit home for the audience. Other attempts to use similar means to the same end are more successful, including aping the bulk of the Bélier clan’s experience at a concert. There’s no mistaking the emotional impact, nor in the movie’s ultimate climax, too — and while there’s no mistaking the calculated efforts at work either, these thoughtful touches boost an offering that’s warm but wanting otherwise.
Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5
The Bélier Family (La Famille Bélier)
Director: Eric Lartigau
France/Belgium, 2014, 109 mins
Release date: 26 December
Advanced screenings from 11 December
Distributor: Palace
Rating: M
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