Tania Martins

 

LIVING ON LOVE ALONE is an interesting film; it follows Julie as she goes from a bad job in PR to a bad one in sales to a love affair. Julie is seeking employment in the hippest PR agency in Paris and when she finally gets it, we can watch disappointment creeping slowly, as she fails from task to task, the job being a complete let down for her. Next, she tries sales. A panel of judges whom she has a job interview with tell her that she must demonstrate selling potential and to go next door to try and sell encyclopaedias to an actor, Ben. Ben ends up helping her get the job and they become friends. She ends up leaving sales, but not before having sex with her "sales instructor". Then Ben asks her to go to the south of France with him, because he has a job there. She is hesitant at first, but then changes her mind. He finally tells her exactly what he does when she finds a gun in a kitchen drawer; he smuggles weapons from Spain to France. She decides to go along with him, but when Ben slips up and shoplifts a CD from a supermarket they are caught by the police and taken into the station. 

 

 

 

The film's main theme doesn't suit the sort of feel that the film has, being a rock number. However, it has some good comedic moments and timings, never losing its humour. It tries to mix socially relevant fare (unemployment and the job market) with a reluctant Bonnie and Clyde story and it has its moments, not forgetting some really stereotypical French-isms (when Ben tells Julie that she is beautiful, obviously she replies that she is not to what he answers that she is ugly then) and some sex scenes for good measure. Overall, it is a good and enjoyable effort from Czajka's second feature and definitely packs some promise. 

The same cannot be said for the two main actors - Anais Demoustier and Pio Marmai - they give flawless performances. They have chemistry and Demoustier couldn't be in better form, having never given a performance under par. I really can't wait to see what she will do next. Mademoiselle Demoustier has a brand new fan!