THE STORY – For 14 years, Erika has been the anchor of a household that rarely stands still, doing her best to raise teenage Abigail, her whirlwind little brother, Yoni, and a dog with an extreme devotion to cheese. When Abi’s desire to meet her absent father grows into a full-blown obsession and word spreads he’s been seen nearby, Erika fears the fragile balance will collapse for good. Instead, the unpredictable journey that follows brings mother and daughter to see each other anew, steering their lively, lovable family toward a happy new chapter.
THE CAST – Hafsia Herzi, Paulette Chetrit, Jacques Sebban & Stephan Chargeboeuf
THE TEAM – Rudi Rosenberg (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 95 Minutes
A prolific actor in French cinema and television throughout his 20s (from 1999 to 2010), Rudi Rosenberg shifted to working behind the camera with his first short film, released in 2008. His first feature, 2015’s “Le Nouveau”, was a dramatic comedy about a young boy struggling to fit in after enrolling at a new school, and was hailed by some as a spiritual successor to the Gallic teen sensation “La Boum” from 1980. “Words of Love”, made some ten years after that auspicious debut, opts for a female perspective but retains that focus on childhood and adolescence. Courtesy of a prestigious world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard sidebar (and having an established actress like Hafsia Herzi in the adult lead role), this emotionally sincere coming-of-age story will probably gain more international exposure for Rosenberg, whose previous work was largely limited to the French-language sphere in terms of audience reach.
At the center of it all is Abigaëlle, known as Abi (Nour Salam). She’s the daughter of Erika (Herzi) and Antoine (Stephan Chargeboeuf), who bailed on them before the child was born, as he had repeatedly expressed his unwillingness to be a parent, and never formally recognized Abi. Early attempts to track him down prove fruitless, and at one point, it looks like the girl, thanks to a household that includes her younger half-brother Yoni and a cute dog named Vanille, might be happy with the life she has. But as she enters the teenage phase, the desire to reconnect – or, really, just connect – with her absent father turns into a proper obsession, straining her relationship with Erika and her approach to everyday life.
In fact, the title (which in French has an extra nuance as it’s “Quelques mots d’amour”, some/a few words of love) refers to a moment when things get so tense that Abi questions whether her mother loves her at all, owing to a perceived lack of verbal signs of affection. It’s a battle of emotions that showcases the raw, natural talent of first-time actress Salam, whose performance charts Abi’s years-long evolution (title cards that describe which grade she’s in in each scene help keep track of the passage of time).
When introducing the Cannes screening, Rosenberg made a point of highlighting how almost the entire cast was made up of non-professionals. He wasn’t quite correct in claiming Herzi was the only professional in front of the camera (a couple of the adult supporting players have acted before). Still, his heart was in the right place when he described the chemistry between the people on set as spontaneous and instinctive. Key to this was the casting of Salam, who carries a lot of the picture’s emotional weight and does so with grit and charm, earning our sympathies even when Abi’s behavior gets dangerously close to crossing the line.
Herzi is also instrumental in this relationship, playing out convincingly. Her work is of a piece with the recent evolution of her career, namely her cinematic interest in motherhood and female adolescence: the former was the premise of her second film as director, “Good Mother” (loosely based on her own experience of being raised by a single parent). At the same time, the latter earned acclaim for her collaboration with actress Nadia Melliti on “The Little Sister.” The two sort of collide in this instance, as Herzi takes what she assimilated behind the camera on both films and brings it to the fore as part of her acting persona, with captivating results.
Things get a tad less convincing in the third act, but not to a genuinely detrimental degree: a couple of moments feel like contrivances to get more expeditiously to a resolution (the film is a mere 95 minutes long, and could easily have reached the two-hour mark to give us more of the central performances), and a subplot involving the dog is almost like it came from a different movie altogether, an impression that is amplified by the fact Abi – otherwise the driving force of virtually every scene – is barely involved. And yet, by the time that detour reaches its climax, it becomes clear it was an inelegant but ultimately effective addendum to the film’s core theme of who we choose to be part of our family (also, speaking as a dog owner: Vanille is terrific).
Minor stumbles aside, Rosenberg’s sophomore effort is kind of like its protagonist: eager to grow and connect with others. And while her quest might run into several roadblocks, both logistical and psychological, the director’s goal is more achievable, if the screening this writer attended is any indication. It may not be the most eye-catching French film of the season, owing to its somewhat low-key nature. Still, it’s an emotionally honest and fulfilling one, driven by an authenticity that rises above the script’s sporadic shortcuts. Words of admiration – maybe not outright love, but there’s time for that further down the line – are certainly on the table.
