Between Two Worlds

Madeleine Rayner

Jul 3

Rating: 2/5

This movie is part of the New Zealand French Film Festival. The French name for this film is "Ouistreham".

It takes place in Ouistreham, Normandy (France) on the quay of the ferries that cross the Channel to the UK.

The film focuses on the main character Marianne, a writer who wants to conduct an investigation to describe the daily life of people who live only through precarious jobs, or are unemployed, people affected by the economic crisis.

She pretends to be a woman looking for a job, hiding her true high middle-class condition and her intellectual profession. Juliette Binoche who plays Marianne is the only actor in this movie - all the participants are not actors and are basically playing themselves.

After a few adventures that allow us to grasp the atmosphere in the region in a very palpable way, the writer ends up being hired by a team of women who work at cleaning the cabins of the ferries.

The film shows the relationships that develop between all the characters in this group of women, who work hard but who also show solidarity.

The relationship between the writer and Chrystèle (who is the woman who got her the job) structure the film and its outcome.

The fact that this is actually a documentary based on the book written by a journalist who is "Marianne" in this story is not something that is apparent, and I think that detracts from this overall story.

On reading about this movie since I viewed it, I have a better appreciation of what was being portrayed, but it wasn't. So for me, the film ended up in limbo.