Agnes Jaoui is a talented lady--a good actress, an above average scriptwriter, and a passable film director. This film "Look at me" is her second directorial effort that I got to see at the on-going Dubai international film festival. The film has won the screenplay award at Cannes in 2004.
I believe the script was very good, while the screenplay was average. Is there a distinction? The script is peppered with good wit and psychological insights. The screenplay flounders with characters that are poorly developed especially when the director is also the co-writer (e.g., why does the belligerent taxi driver suddenly get subdued by a remark of a passenger, what happens to the male dancer who dances with Jaoui's character at the juvenile dance party) and disappear with no apparent logic.
Agnes Jaoui comes through as an accomplished actress in a film that does not stand out among scores of French films that have explored such scenarios (take Agnes Varda's films, for example). The film made by a woman predictably reduces the males into less impressive characters, often stupid and egotistical. In contrast, the women bloom in the film.
For those not familiar with French cinema, this would appear to be a significant film. For me, this film had flaws and some flashes of brilliance.
I believe the script was very good, while the screenplay was average. Is there a distinction? The script is peppered with good wit and psychological insights. The screenplay flounders with characters that are poorly developed especially when the director is also the co-writer (e.g., why does the belligerent taxi driver suddenly get subdued by a remark of a passenger, what happens to the male dancer who dances with Jaoui's character at the juvenile dance party) and disappear with no apparent logic.
Agnes Jaoui comes through as an accomplished actress in a film that does not stand out among scores of French films that have explored such scenarios (take Agnes Varda's films, for example). The film made by a woman predictably reduces the males into less impressive characters, often stupid and egotistical. In contrast, the women bloom in the film.
For those not familiar with French cinema, this would appear to be a significant film. For me, this film had flaws and some flashes of brilliance.