When a young gigolo falls under the spell of a sublime hustler, it’s the start of a Machiavellian plan under the scorching sun of the Côte d’Azur. Are the two lovers ready to do anything to afford a dream life to the detriment of an old glory of cinema and a real estate agent?
“A sunny place populated by dark beings. It is with this description of the Côte d’Azur, attributed to Somerset Maugham, that Masquerade, the fourth feature film by Nicolas Bedos in barely five years. The filmmaker thus offers a gallery of dark characters evolving in a dream setting. One senses behind this intention a very assertive critical will, but it is clear that with Triangle of Sadness (Without filter), Ruben Östlund nevertheless lent himself to this exercise in a more convincing way.
The story is constructed as a flashback to the time when almost all the characters in the story come to testify during a trial. We also suspect that in this world entirely adorned with pretense, everything can only end badly. At least, for the majority of people. The illustration is made thanks to the journey of Adrien (Pierre Niney), a gigolo who has been maintained for a while by Martha (Isabelle Adjani), a former movie star who plays it Gloria Swanson style in Sunset Blvd. or Shirley MacLaine in Postcards from the Edge.
At the same time, Margot (Marine Vacth) does not hesitate to exploit her ability to seduce to trick the rich and upstart bourgeois, particularly Simon (François Cluzet), a real estate agent who will fall into her net. The meeting between Margot and Adrien is obviously inevitable, especially since their expertise in scams of all kinds is accompanied here by a feeling of love.
Although this still too long comedy has been shortened by around fifteen minutes since its presentation, out of competition, at the Cannes Film Festival last year, it emanates from Masquerade a hesitant impression. A bit as if Bedos had too much or not enough on hand. Or that he no longer really knew in which direction to take his story. Scam film, portrait of a showbiz modeled on that of Hollywood, legal drama or scathing satire, Masquerade is a bit of all that at the same time, without the charge really reaching its target.
There remains the happiness of seeing good actors play the game. Isabelle Adjani visibly takes pleasure in slipping into the skin of a capricious star and François Cluzet excels in this kind of somewhat clueless character. Pierre Niney, one of the most sought-after young actors in French cinema, is equal to himself (that is to say very good) and Marine Vacth (Young and beautiful, The confession), for the first time in this register, hits the mark here.
Indoors
Comedy
Masquerade
Nicolas Bedos
With Pierre Niney, Marine Vacth, Isabelle Adjani
2:14 a.m.