“The Object of the Crime”, by Agnès Jaoui: “By saying everything and its opposite, we no longer know what the film is saying”

VIDEO – Every week, our film critics comment on a film released in theaters. Today, the new comedy by Agnès Jaoui, “L’Objet du délit†, which does not really convince Samuel Douhaire and Marie Sauvion.

Height years after his last film, disappointing him Public square, co-written with Jean-Pierre Bacri, Agnès Jaoui marks her solo return to directing, with The object of the crime, and films the daily life of an opera troupe crossed by the #MeToo movement and the conflict between generations (“between the wokes and the boomers, to put it quickly”).

“I don’t like the film very much, to be honest, warns Marie Sauvion. I really like Agnès Jaoui as an actress and as an author. I have excellent memories of Taste of others […], who showed tenderness and complexity. That doesn’t seem to me to be the case with this film.” Because the film claims to give voice to everyone, to all generations, to those who claim a universalist feminism and those who claim an intersectional feminism. “But there are characters much more charged than others, more satirized than othersestimates Samuel Douhaire. And it clearly leans towards the wokes, the younger ones. » «There is a desire to be ambiguous, complex, rich, to give food for thought, continues Marie Sauvion. But the problem with films that want to be ambiguous at all costs is that they are not always successful and by dint of saying everything and its opposite, we no longer know what they are saying.” Then to regret “a slightly reactive wind, a bit “Fanny-Ardantesque†. It wouldn’t matter if the film was more exciting! But alas, the film is too long (2h12), drags and suffers from staging “passe-partout”. When we know Agnès Jaoui’s talents as a dialogue writer and screenwriter, we have the right to expect better!