Paulette (2012)

Wonderful character development!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Paulette is Bernadette Lafont's swansong. She moved into spirit a year or so after its completion aged 74. And yet in this; a tale in which a pensioner in an unnamed "banlieue" decides to sell drugs to pay her debt provoking the hilarity of her French Arab and Black neighbours as this little old lady approaches them with her business proposition ... it will also provoke the viewer's ... Lafont is arguably one of the most important French actresses of the 60's 70's and up to the end; she embodied the spirit of Punk before the word even meant what it meant in 76/77. There are photos of her in the early 60s in which she has short hair and black nail-varnish looking like a proto Siouxsie Sioux; but her spirit was always antagonistic irreverent at-odds with the status quo and the bourgeoisie she came from. The film is by no means a masterpiece; but as a swansong from such a great actress she is here as magnetic as she was in La Maman et La Putain or Une Belle Fille Comme Moi

While the intro to our main character might not be as powerful as in the animated "Up", you still get a feeling for a character that will be very difficult to identify with at first. It's a grandmother who is really naughty and seems to hate everyone and everything. But the actress is so good with a script that is really more than fine, that you do care in the end.You might already know where this is going (sort of), but it's really fun to watch how we get there. The french keep it real (as much as possible), with added story lines, that do not feel that they disrupt or corrupt the main story. It actually adds to it, in small but very funny pieces. I can only recommend this if you like naughty comedies

Strange that nobody in France has reviewed this little comedy yet;it was made by Jérôme Enrico ,Robert's son (who directed some memorable works such as "Au Cœur De La Vie" and "Les Aventuriers").One of Bernadette Lafont's last parts ,she really shines in her portrayal of an embittered (and shameless) retired woman ,who has only got 600 Euros per month to live ;that's not a minor detail:a lot of retired people do not have enough to live in France and the charity organizations are currently working overtime (The Restaurants Du Cœur have seen their number raise by 10% this year.)Paulette is too proud to beg!during the cast and credits ,we see the story of her life and how she lost her restaurant which (infamy!) fell into aliens' hands!A catholic ,she often goes to confession-and the priest is a black man ,another sign of the times!-.She is at odds with her daughter ,who married a black cop,and she despises her charming little Grandson she calls "Bamboula"(offensive racist term ).By chance,she discovers that drugs mean a lot of dough;so why not becoming a new dealer in town? "The police would never suspect an old lady " she says to the local big shot called Vito;but the young dealers around do not like unfair competition and they tell her so. So she's got to find a new way to sell her stuff:unintentionally ,her adorable grandson will give her the solution to all her problems ;besides she is a fine pastry cook....As a poor honest woman ,she was nasty and hateful;the more illegal she gets ,the more human she becomes;gone is her racism ;a redemption tale indeed,morally and physically :the ugly old lady is transformed into a coquette still fine-looking woman.Although the movie loses steam after the casino episode ,it's Reductio Ad Absurdum that evil can spawn good and even help ....fix the roof of the Church.

From an early synopsis for "Paulette", I thought it was just a french remake of "Saving Grace". But while some of the gags actually share their genes, the movie as a whole is a different beast; the comedy aspects are there (and quite funny) but there are many instances where the scenes suddenly turn violent or awkward - life in the suburbs is portrayed in a realistic manner (at least for a comedy) and Paulette's situation (financial, social, health ...) is far from rosy. Paulette herself, played to perfection by Bernadette Lafont in her last screen appearance, is a mean, weasely character, racist and overall as politically incorrect as possible. The retiree is down to her last coins and barely managing to survive when she gets the opportunity to enter the local drug market - she grabs that opportunity and, through craftiness, ruthlessness and luck, makes it nearly to the top. But Paulette has to change not only her life but her self if she is to survive - she's desperately in need of all those she alienated in the past.Since it's a comedy, the ending is nice, but "Paulette" leaves more than just a sweet aftertaste. Recommended!