Roxane
Written and directed by Mélanie Auffret
Starring Guillaume de Tonquédec, Léa Drucker, Lionel Abelanski
In French with English subtitles
Showing nationally as part of the Alliance Française French Film Festival
In the beautiful countryside of Brittany, northern France, taciturn organic egg farmer Raymond (Guillaume de Tonquédec) keeps his hens laying by performing sections of the French classic play, Cyrano de Bergerac – always accompanied by his favourite chook, Roxane.
But hard times come to disrupt his solitude when the local egg cooperative chooses to cut off its small farmers.
Peppered with eccentric characters performed by some fine actors, Roxane is a gentle comedy with just enough class struggle to give it dramatic tension while it spoofs high French culture.
Perhaps after working hard on organising a rally, this could be an undemanding and sweet movie to wind down with.