It is always a joy to watch Isabelle Huppert. And this is no exception, even if Souvenir by the West-Flemish Bavo Defurne is a cipher.
The French film star plays a working woman who spends every day putting laurel leaves on pâté. A young boxer (rising star Kévin Azaïs) discovers that she once almost won the Eurovision Song Contest and convinces her to make a comeback.
That’s all we can say because we’ve almost given away the entire, wafer-thin plot. Fortunately, the kitsch and chocolatebox romance is kept to a minimum, but the everyday tableaux lack credibility. And what is the point of it all anyway? Huppert has plenty of charisma, but she doesn’t have the voice to convince you that she was once a successful singer.
In the best case, Souvenir is a meaningless fairy-tale, but in the worst case, it is a fairy-tale that claims it is more noble to seek out fame and fortune rather than to do routine work in a pâté factory.
> Souvenir. BE, 2016, dir.: Bavo Defurne, act.: Isabelle Huppert, Kévin Azaïs, Johan Leysen, 90 min. UGC Gulden Vlies/Toison d'Or
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