Little Victories: An endearing popular comedy (review)

ByLeila December 25, 2023December 25, 2023

Mélanie Auffret explores rural desertification in a touching, joyful and never cutesy feel good movie. One of the big winners of the Alpe d’Huez festival

In just two films, Mélanie Auffret will have succeeded in imposing her unique style. A way of telling the daily life of what we today call “the territories” with a tenderness and an empathy that is never cutesy to create feel good fables, which the British, great specialists of the genre, would not deny. Her own territory is her native Brittany. And after Roxane and her egg producer who made her chickens happy by calling them Cyrano, she takes us to the small village of Kerguen, symbol of the rural desertification which is plaguing our countryside through the fight of Alice, its mayor-teacher (Julia Piaton, bright) to avoid the closure of his school where he has just registered… Emile, a sixty-year-old (Michel Blanc, tasty) grumpy suddenly eager to learn to read and write. Mélanie Auffret develops here a gallery of characters immersed in situations that harsh reality leads to the territory of the absurd but without ever falling into the picturesque. Because she knows this character and these situations by heart and if she moves forward with optimism in her heart, she has no illusions about the outcome of the duel between this earthen pot and the iron pot. But his militant gesture therefore involves humor, a real sense of emotion which touches the heart directly because nothing is manufactured or forced. Because Mélanie Auffret knows that with the amazing group of actors she has brought together, a look is worth more than a thousand words. A popular and endearing comedy which has just triumphed at the Alpe d’Huez festival.

By Mélanie Auffret. With Julia Piaton, Michel Blanc, Lionel Abelanski… Duration 1h29. Released March 1, 2023

Leila

Leila is the editor-in-chief at DTmovies, leading the charge with her team to deliver engaging cinema and series content. With a keen eye for emerging trends and a passion for the stories behind the screen, she is the creative backbone that drives the site’s editorial excellence. Her expertise and dedication have established DTmovies as a go-to source for film and series enthusiasts.