Little White Lies Are All About the Truth

By Emma Krasov

The usual French film premise – a group of 30-something friends divided into couples, ex-couples, couples on a verge of a break up, and surfacing love triangles – is the first obvious thing in Little White Lies by Guillaume Canet, presented by MPI Pictures.  The second obvious thing about this movie is the heavy use of rock and jazz hit songs intended to illustrate every character’s inner struggle, or a conflict between two characters. The classic songs for some reason come from a previous generations’ fan book – Nina Simone, The Isley Brothers, Janis Joplin, David Bowie, Creedence Clearwater Revival…  

The not so obvious thing in this film is that most of the characters are hard to identify with, since in the first hour or so we learn very little about the majority of them.  When we do learn more, it seems sometimes hard to believe. Can a young, good looking, kind, smart and successful doctor fall for a grumpy, arrogant, slightly educated B&B owner past his prime? Can a normal-looking man pursue a rather homely woman to a degree under which he turns into a needy lovesick teenager occupied only with her text messages and decidedly nothing else in his life? Can a night club junky be a center of everyone’s love and devotion? There might be more to any of these characters, but we still don’t know it from their actions and dialogs that rotate around summer vacation activities and petty squabbles.

While for the best part of the film nothing is happening besides trivial things like going on vacation in a group, settling at the B&B, eating, drinking, boating, etc. etc., eventually the plot thickens and brings up some drama and a hint at complex relationships within the group. As always, Paris and the beaches of, presumably, Provence, play a role equal to that of the acting ensemble. Some very distinguished actors’ presence surely helps – like Marion Cotillard, Francois Cluzet (both on photo), Benoit Magimel, and Jean Dujardin. Little White Lies premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and won the Cesar Award for Best Director (G. Canet). The film opens on August 31 at Landmark Theater in San Francisco, Shattuck in Berkeley, and Rafael Film Center in San Rafael, California.