Isabelle Huppert takes flight in Marc Fitoussi’s comedy of manners Folies Bergère

MOVIE REVIEW: Isabelle Huppert fronts an unmistakably French comedy of manners that can also be thought-provoking ... if you let it.

FOLIES BERGÈRE [M]

Rating: 3/5

Director:Marc Fitoussi (Copacabana)

Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Michael Nyqvist.

“A holiday is as good as a change”

Isabelle Huppert fronts an unmistakably French comedy of manners that also plays well as a universally accessible study of grace under pressure of unforeseen change.

Sounds a trifle deep, huh? Don’t sweat the hard stuff. For Folies Bergère works efficiently enough on both levels to please those after an easy time of it, or others who wouldn’t mind a good hard think about things.

Comedy of manners ... Isabelle Huppert as Brigitte enjoying her impulsive trip to Paris. Picture: Supplied

Huppert plays Brigitte, a middle-aged farmer’s wife who life takes a series of unpredictable turns when she impulsively takes a sudden trip to Paris.

A chance meeting with a young admirer was the initial reason the flighty Brigitte took off for the big smoke. However, once in the City of Lights — to where she has been followed by her worried husband Xavier (Jean-Pierre Darroussin) — a new sense of purpose takes hold for the marital fugitive.

Intriguing romantic possibilities rise and fade throughout, as does a growing warmth and self-awareness not immediately apparent in the film’s unsettled opening act.

Though Folies Bergère (originally released in its homeland under the title La Ritournelle) takes a while to find its stride, when it does, the journey is well worth taking.

Huppert channels the ever-shifting mindset of Brigitte with consummate ease, while Swedish Girl With the Dragon Tattoo star Michael Nyqvist makes a valuable minor contribution later on in proceedings.

Originally published as Isabelle Huppert takes flight in Marc Fitoussi’s comedy of manners Folies Bergère