Le Bleu des villes

Stéphane Brizé

 

Stéphane Brizé knows a thing or too about lifestyle choices, especially the kind which form the basis of Le Bleu Des Villes. Born in 1966 in Rennes, Brizé studied science at college and went on to enroll in drama school, where he directed several plays. In 1994 he made Bleu Dommage, the first of three short films, and the colour motif continues with this, his feature debut.

The film centres on a woman, Solange, who lives a quiet life with her husband in a provincial town. Her cosy domesticated life is shaken up, however, when an old childhood friend drops by.

Her friend, Mylene, is now an urbane TV weather girl, who's on a promotional signing tour to promote her new book.

Solange is a traffic warden, stuck in a frumpy outfit and suffering tirades of abuse from angry motorists. Together they plan a night on the town, going for dinner and heading off later to a club, but when Mylene returns to Paris, Solange suddenly feels dissatisfied with her quintessentially suburban lifestyle. In her younger days, Solange had dreams of being a singer, and faced with a safe but bland future she decides it might be time for a rethink.

Translating roughly as Hometown Blue, Brizé's film offers a neat visual pun - in her pressed blue uniform, town mouse Solange is just that Meanwhile, the quick-witted might recognise the actress as Florence Vignon from Kieslowski's Three Colours trilogy. Which colour episode? Take a guess... Steve Grayson