re:mote voices

Title:Adventure (Une Aventure)
Cast: Ludivine Sagnier, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Bruno Todeschini, Florence Loiret-Caille, Estelle Vincent
Director: Xavier Giannoli

Adventure (Une Aventure) showed as part of this year's French Film Festival, and the only film there that I managed to catch. Actress Ludivine Sagnier stars, familiar from a number of films by Francois Ozon, most prominently of which would be Swimming Pool. Here she plays a troubled woman called Gabrielle.

Julien and Cecile are a young couple who have just moved in together. He works funny hours at the Library of Cinema. One night he gets home late and realises that he doesn't have his keys. While he waits for Cecile to wake up and let him in Gabrielle appears. This strange woman standing bare foot in the street, staring at him, tears streaming down her face. He moves towards her and she wanders off, disappearing before he can do anything. This happens a couple of times, until one day he bumps into Gabrielle during the day, and despite several encounters she doesn't recognise him in the slightest. Gradually Julien is drawn into Gabrielle's life. It becomes clear that she is a sleep walker, and Julien takes on a kind of guardian angel role. Of course this looks strange to Cecile, and Gabrielle's perhaps gangster boyfriend.

Adventure is something of a misleading title for this film, since it isn't really an adventure as such. The film really focuses of Gabrielle and the hints that she had a bad past, that has traumatised her and that is expressed through her harmful nocturnal activities. The film muddles along, but it doesn't really make much of the material on offer - little is made of the relationship between Gabrielle and Julian other than demonstration of his growing interest, little is made of the tension that introduces to the relation with Cecile, and little is made of Gabrielle's boyfriend. Overall Adventure is ok, but nothing special.