San Francisco Jewish Film Festival 2015

[Chris Knipp]

KARIN ALBOU: MY SHORTEST LOVE AFFAIR/MA PLUS COURTE HISTOIRE D'AMOUR (2015)


PATRICK MIMOUN AND KARIN ALBOU IN MY SHORTEST LOVE AFFAIR

The twain does not meet

This very French, and yet in French terms unconventional, film of a failed relationship is off-putting for men and very much the woman's point of view. To a man, this seems, however amusing or intended to amuse, unfair to men, and more than a little repetitious and tedious. It contains two comical American Jewish songs, and there are reminders that the man, whose family name is Italian, is not; but this is a battle of the sexes, not the sects. The man is a sexual stereotype; or should we just say he's a typical man? (But not all men are typical.) The premise feels contrived. Louisa (played by the writer-director herself) and Charles (Patrick Mimoun) were lovers when they were eighteen or twenty. Twenty years later they meet again in Paris during the "Nuits Blanches," and it is not a mere accident. Charles, a Columbia professor and known now as a writer, has come to realize that Louisa is who he's always been writing about in his fiction. And since recently his creative juices have dried up, he has been wanting very much to see her again. She has been alone since her husband died several years ago. Magically, the old couple make love again in a rush before Charles returns to New York, where he lives. And he has gotten Louisa pregnant, just that one time. (Albou when playing this role is really pregnant, very pregnant, and is naked a lot of the time, and her bravery is admirable.)

Now comes the screenwriting twist that makes it all possible. When he learns Louisa is pregnant, Charles impulsively decides to leave New York, where he has lived for a decade, to try living with Louisa and be there for his child. And perhaps to get his inspiration back. But from the moment Charles gets off the plane he and Louisa are like oil and water. He has issued a warning before even arriving: he is allergic to cat hair. Her cat is her dearest companion, her pal, her roommate. She likes having flowers around; he's allergic to them too. In sex, Charles, now anyway, has tastes having become jaded, no doubt, likes all the conventional "male" sorts of things: lively music, or none; bright light; talking dirty -- preferably in English. Louisa, like most girls (and she says women remain young girls in their fantasies of perfect sex) wants soft lights, no words, gentleness, romance. Out of bed they clash just as much. In the morning he wants music and coffee; she wants the news and tea. And worse still, being French, they have endless discussions about all this. The irony of this is that this story about a woman frustrated in her desire for romance becomes a very unromantic movie.

I am a great fan of Claire Denis, but not of her much admired Friday Night. This reminds me of that. Mind you, My Shortest Love Affair is a comedy. It just happens to be more tedious than funny. The dark cinematography by Nicolas Berteyac, featuring lurid images of the Moulin Rouge neighborhood of Montmartre where Louisa lives, grew on me after a while. I liked Louisa's intelligent, lived-in face. And I even began to accept after a while that as Charles, Patrick Mimoun was doing his thankless job of playing the boorish, stubborn male quite well.

Karin Albou became known with her feature debut Little Jerusalem (2001), which won Best Screenplay at Critics Week at Cannes that year; and for The Brides' Song (2008).

My Shortest Love Affair/Ma plus courte histoire d'amour, in French with several punishing moments of English, a merciful 76 mins., awaits release. It was screened for this review as part of the 2015 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, where it was featured as the Centerpiece Film (29 July 2015), and a "Sneak Preview."



Note: For mature audiences; contains nudity