Odette Toulemonde (2006)
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Directors
Cast
Catherine Frot, Albert Dupontel, Jacques Weber, Fabrice Murgia, Nina Drecq, Camille Japy, Alain Doutey, Julien Frison, Laurence d´ Amelio
A devoted reader’s heartfelt letter brings her struggling life into contact with the unhappy bestselling author whose books she loves.
The story
Odette Toulemonde works in the cosmetics department of a department store in Charleroi, Belgium. A young widow in her forties with a meager salary and little prospect of a better future, she is raising two eccentric teenagers and finds little joy in everyday life. Her greatest source of happiness is reading the novels of Balthazar Balsan, a bestselling author she idolizes. Though Balthazar has commercial success, money, a wife and a child, he is unhappy and uncertain of his talent. When critics attack his latest book, Odette writes to him about her life and the happiness his novels give her. He responds by deciding to meet her.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Odette Toulemonde (Catherine Frot) works in the cosmetics department of a department store in Charleroi, Belgium. A young widow in her forties, earning a miserable salary and with no prospect of a better future, she is the mother of two eccentric teenagers, and her life is hardly joyful. Her one great source of happiness is reading the novel series by her favorite bestselling author, Balthazar Balsan (Albert Dupontel), whom she idolizes, and Joséphine Baker. For his part, Balthazar Balsan is married and has a child. He has everything material society can offer at its best—commercial success and money—but he is unhappy and unsure of himself and his talent, which makes him very vulnerable to criticism. After the press savages his latest book, he receives a letter from his admirer Odette, in which she tells him about her mediocre life, all the happiness his novels bring her, and the boundless love she feels for him. He decides to meet her and begin a therapy in happiness with her.
Genres
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