'Dieu est grand, je suis toute petite' is a little film by Pascale Bailly that spends a lot of time trying to tell a story in bits and pieces with numerous characters, interesting in and of themselves but confusing to the viewer, attempting to keep up with the breakneck speed of this French comedy. The saving grace is the presence of Audrey Tautou and a few other actors whose screen magnetism holds our interest.
Fresh from a breakup with a boyfriend Bertand (Mathieu Demy) top model Michèle (Tautou) is a wreck of a person flirting with all manner of religious outlets (Hindu, Buddhism, Catholicism, etc) trying to find something to make her crazy life make sense. She encounters a veterinarian François (Edouard Baer) who is a secular Jew (non-practicing, closeted, etc) and not only does she fall immediately into bed with him (and a next morning attempted suicide!) she begins to stalk him trying to embrace Judaism - a fact that at first drives François away and then a little mad himself. The manner in which Michèle and François study Judaism and all its graces and restrictions is (I think) the basis for the rest of the story: the filming technique of flashbacks and fragmentary moments and cutesy scribblings on pages are paced to confuse and make this simple story a maze to follow! Along the way we meet some interesting types including Valérie (Julie Depardieu) who opens her door to her first psychology patient (Thierry Neuvic) and promptly falls in love with him; Ali (Atmen Kelif) who is Michèle's nutty fashion photographer and a number of others. There are funny moments, touching moments, absurd moments, but they are loosely strung together. In the end this is a fun film in which it is a bit trying to connect all the dots! In French, English, and Hebrew with subtitles. Grady Harp
Fresh from a breakup with a boyfriend Bertand (Mathieu Demy) top model Michèle (Tautou) is a wreck of a person flirting with all manner of religious outlets (Hindu, Buddhism, Catholicism, etc) trying to find something to make her crazy life make sense. She encounters a veterinarian François (Edouard Baer) who is a secular Jew (non-practicing, closeted, etc) and not only does she fall immediately into bed with him (and a next morning attempted suicide!) she begins to stalk him trying to embrace Judaism - a fact that at first drives François away and then a little mad himself. The manner in which Michèle and François study Judaism and all its graces and restrictions is (I think) the basis for the rest of the story: the filming technique of flashbacks and fragmentary moments and cutesy scribblings on pages are paced to confuse and make this simple story a maze to follow! Along the way we meet some interesting types including Valérie (Julie Depardieu) who opens her door to her first psychology patient (Thierry Neuvic) and promptly falls in love with him; Ali (Atmen Kelif) who is Michèle's nutty fashion photographer and a number of others. There are funny moments, touching moments, absurd moments, but they are loosely strung together. In the end this is a fun film in which it is a bit trying to connect all the dots! In French, English, and Hebrew with subtitles. Grady Harp