ENSEMBLE, C’EST TOUT (Hunting and Gathering) Review
ENSEMBLE, C’EST TOUT (5 out of 5 stars)
Recently, my dad sent me the French movie, Ensemble, C’est Tout (Hunting and Gathering), for me to watch because he thought I would enjoy it, and with a cast that includes Guillaume Canet and Audrey Tautou, he was right, I loved it.
Unfortunately, the movie was not released in the US (which is quite unfortunate if you ask me), but if you’re in France make sure to pick up a copy (and if you need subtitles I think Australia released the movie). But since I loved the movie so much, I wanted to share it with you.
Ensemble, C’est Tout (which is literally translated “Together, That’s All”), based on the book of the same name by Anna Gavalda, tells the story of Camille (Audrey Tautou), who while a talented sketch artist, works at night as a cleaner. It seems that Camille does everything she can to disappear. She barely eats to the point that her mother even tells her that no boy will be interested in her if she looks like that.
At the beginning of the movie, Camille, who lives in the attic of an old apartment building, gets the flu. Fortunately for her, a young stuttering aristocrat who lives in the building, Philibert (Laurent Stocker), whom she had befriended, finds he freezing and decides to take her in to live with him in his apartment. Unfortunately, his roommate, Franck (Guillaume Canet) is not as excited as Philibert at the prospect of a new person sharing the apartment. You see, Franck is a dissatisfied chef who works six days a week and on his day off goes to visit his grandmother Paulette (Francoise Bertin), whom he feels guilty for putting into a home.
But even though everything seemed to be going wrong, these four people will change each other’s lives in the most unexpected ways.
At the heart of the story, Audrey Tautou and Guillaume Canet give life to these characters with such simplicity that it makes the film what it is.
It is so rare nowadays with all the blockbuster movies coming out of Hollywood to find a simple story told in such a way that you can not only relate to it but you’ll also be thinking about it for days to come.
Audrey Tautou and Guillaume Canet are some of the most talented young actors that we have right now and I’ll watch anything they’re in. So now imagine putting them together. It’s brilliant.
But in addition to these two, it’s important to note some great performances from Laurent Stocker and Francoise Bertin, who also help make the movie what it is.
I think what I mostly loved about the film is that they were able to tell a really beautiful story that felt real without adding any types of cliches or “artificial” scenes.
Ensemble C’est Tout was directed by Claude Berri, who had been making movies in France since the 1960s. Unfortunately, Claude Berri passed away earlier this year. This was his last movie.
Watch the trailer for Ensemble C’est Tout below (the first one is subtitled, but since the quality wasn’t great I added another version without subtitles below with a better quality).
