Marie has had a tough childhood ever since her mother Elisa committed suicide. She has spent most of her life in an orphanage and now makes a living as a small time criminal in Paris. Now she wants to unravel her past and find her father whom she blames for her mother's death.
Acting
Vanessa Paradis carries the whole fragile wreck
Direction
Becker lets silence do the screaming
Cinematography
Paris never looked this lonely and blue
Director
Jean Becker
Vanessa Paradis
Marie
Gérard Depardieu
Jacques 'Lébovitch', Marie's father
Clotilde Courau
Solange, Marie's friend
Sekkou Sall
Ahmed, Marie's friend
Florence Thomassin
Elisa, Marie's mother
Werner Schreyer
DS driver
Michel Bouquet
Samuel
Philippe Léotard
Gitanes Smoker
Catherine Rouvel
Marina
Melvil Poupaud
Pharmacist's son
Olivier Saladin
Kevin
Bernard Verley
Entrepreneur
Reine Bartève
Grandmother
Gérard Chaillou
Claude Chapelier
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Vanessa Paradis was 22 but had already been famous for a decade as a pop star; this was her serious actress pivot.
The film shares DNA with 90s French 'cinéma du look' but rejects its gloss for working-class authenticity—Becker was deliberately reacting against his own stylish 80s work.
FR
