The Cannes Film Festival got underway Tuesday in typical very French fashion with the opening-night film, The Electric Kiss (La venus electrique), a very French romantic comedy of loss, grief, deception and renewed love of life and art.
Premiering out of competition, the 1928 Paris-set charmer comes from veteran filmmaker Pierre Salvadori (After You , Priceless) and serves as a sweetly old-fashioned kind of movie we often have seen coming from France, a crowd-pleaser that could work nicely for audiences, international and domestic, seeking a little escape from the dark times that no doubt will be portrayed vividly at the fest in the next 11 days.
The title refers to Suzanne (a terrific Anais Demoustier), a down-on-her-luck carnival performer who is the attraction that lures men for a kiss that gives off a sharp electric shock (thanks to behind-the curtain wiring) meant to literally demonstrate the “electricity” of love. For her this has become a dead-end job that has made her so desperate that she resorts to petty crime, even attempting to rob from her neighbor psychic. It is there she is actually mistaken for the medium by sad-sack grieving artist Antoine Balestro (Pio Marmaï), who has given up his life force and creative inspiration after the death of his wife Irene (Vimala Pons) and has come to this psychic in the hopes of connecting with her from beyond. Suzanne, seeing perhaps an easy mark, passes herself off as just the person who can grant his wife, and thus begins her phony side hustle.
Stumbling on to this ruse, Antoine’s friend and manager Armand (Gilles Lellouche) immediately can tell Suzanne is a fake and scolds her for exploiting his friend’s grief. But when sees these sessions actually spark Antoine’s painting, he changes his tune and teams with Suzanne to keep up the disguise in return for a piece of profits from Antoine’s new works and shows. It all gets very complicated when current life merges with flashbacks of his past life with Irene and a budding romance with — you guessed it — Suzanne.
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All of this might seem the recipe for pure French farce, but Salvadori and his co-writers Benjamin Carbit and Benoit Graffin don’t go for obvious comic opportunities, especially with death and grief an underlying theme. The comedy here is more subtle, and the tone more lushly romantic and human. The actors are perfectly cast starting with Marmaï’s likeable Antoine, the only player here not being the deceiver. He hits all the right notes, as do the two women in his life, present with Demoustier, and past with Pons whose role is more developed that the usual case of flashback performances. Lellouche, as usual , is all pro and winning as Armand.
A big plus here is the visual look of the film , with shout outs to cinematographer Julien Poupard, production designer Angelo Zamparutti, and the wonderful music score from Camille Bazbaz.
The Electric Kiss may not be “electric” cinema itself, but as a Cannes opener it does the job and fits the bill nicely.
Producer is Philippe Martin.
Title: The Electric Kiss
Festival: Cannes (Opening-night film, Out of Competition)
Director: Pierre Salvadori
Screenwriters: Benjamin Charbit, Benoit Graffin, Pierre Salvadori
Cast: Pio Marmaï , Anais Demoustier, Gilles Lellouche, Vimala Pons, Gustave Kervern, Madeleine Baudot
Running time: 2 hr, 2 mins
Sales agent: Playtime
