David O'ConnellThe Hedgehog
June 25th 2010 03:52
Thankfully, even with the onslaught of mind-numbing, multi-million dollar trash epics now upon us, there’s still something to be said for an intelligent, low-key human drama that warms the heart with insights both painful and profound. Sometimes the simplest films are the most affecting, and Mona Achache’s The Hedgehog, based on a novel by Muriel Barbery, is one of those – the type to get under your guard tand remind you how great ‘small’ cinema can be.
Set in a Parisian apartment complex, The Hedgehog casts an eye over the lives of three distinct characters. Firstly, there's Renee (Josiane Balasko) the concierge or building manager, a meek, homely woman who is acknowledged but never seen; even after many years of service, she has retained an anonymity that she has taken for granted. However, she’s not the simple, modestly efficient woman everyone assumes her to be. Secretly she protects a rich interior life through which she is sustained by the influences of literature and film.
Then there’s the precocious 11 year-old Paloma (Garance Le Guillermic), a glum and evasive child brimming with intellect and yet calmly plotting her own suicide for which she’s even designated a date. Death, she imagines, is an infinitely superior alternative to a life lived in a fish bowl like those around her, including a perpetually drug-dazed mother, a workaholic politician father and an older sister she's often engaged in stealth combat with around the house. Poloma constantly slinks away into corners, creating a video diary of her life, narrating all the while with insightful, philosophical musings about the failings of her family and others in the building.
Finally, there’s the building's newest tenant, Kakuro (Togo Igawa), a quietly dignified Japanese businessman who takes time to notice firstly Paloma, and then Renee, treating her with a respect that astonishes her initially. Unused to being noticed or the beneficiary of even a simple kindly smile, Renee is taken aback, her first instinct to retreat to the womb-like comfort of her dreary duties or that reliable second line of defence - her study filled with thousands of books.
Paloma (Garance Le Guillermic) is comforted by Renee (Josiane Balasko)
The Hedgehog doesn’t try to re-invent the wheel; this a quiet, slowly evolving study of the interactions between these three characters and the subtle but profound effects they have on one another’s lives. Paloma’s literate, incisive observations may seem like those of a person who has lived to a more advanced age than she, but this aspect of the narrative - clearly an encroachment of Barbery’s duties as a Professor of Philosophy - allows this ultra-serious young girl’s perspective to sparkle with intelligence.
The three main performers are all exceptional; sublimely so in the case of Igawa who carries with him into each scene a delicate, distinguished air; an effortlessly conveyed impression of cultivated wisdom. With a minimum of words he’s able to extract feelings long thought remote from Renee. I found this slowly burgeoning relationship between Renee and Kakuro incredibly moving for its simple grace and insight.
If The Hedgehog is guilty of a misstep, it’s in a crucial scene that arrives late in the piece. It feels despairingly misjudged at the time even though you could argue it neatly adheres to a belief in wicked irony as a final statement on everything in life. It’ll surely be the main point of debate once the lights come up, but one that hopefully doesn't detract too much from the poignant elegance of this unsentimental film's numerous great scenes.
The Hedgehog opens across Australia on July 8.
A changed woman - Renee out with Kakuro ( the magnificent Togo Igawa)
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Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Nice review.
Comment by David O'Connell
20/20 Filmsight
Screen Fanatic