Cherchez Hortense

Damien, a professor of Chinese Civilisation, is forced by his wife to ask his father a favour. As a senior civil servant, he could help a woman get residency papers. The request is a true horror for Damien, who hates to ask his father anything. But he doesn’t reveal this to his wife. She is very busy as stage director and with a male colleague, on whom she focuses a suspicious amount of attention. In the meantime, Damien meets a young woman who shares his interests and is fascinated by his life.
Plenty of starting points for a comic drama of relationships, which director and scriptwriter Bonitzer situates in the Parisian intellectual elite. The most important themes are identity and the quest for self-confidence: you don’t just get that, it has to be earned. Despite such serious themes as dysfunctional families and stalling relationships, Bonitzer keeps the tone pleasantly light.