{image1}It's not surprising that everyone wants to get close to a celebrity and gain his approval. But what's really sad about the French film "Look at Me," is that for Lolita Cassard that celebrity is her dad and no matter what she does, she can't seem to gain his approval.
Lolita (Marilou Berry) is a 20-year-old studying singing. Especially by European standards, Lolita's not a thin girl and she certainly doesn't look like the model that society provides. Of course, that bothers her, but perhaps not as much as the fact that she has the sinking feeling that her dad would prefer to sweep her under the rug.
Etienne Cassard (Jean-Pierre Bacri) is a much-respected writer and is surrounded by an ever-changing entourage of sycophants. His writer's block is making him cranky and his trophy bride Karine (Virginie Desarnauts) is reaching her limit with his deprecating attitude.
Meanwhile, Lolita's emotional struggles with her relationship with dad are further strained by the fact that almost everyone she meets seems to befriend her just to gain access to her famous and respected father. The result is that she trusts no one.
While she remains inexplicably and tragically devoted to Mathieu (Julien Baumgartner), he two-times her and breaks her heart almost daily. When she meets Sebastien (Keine Bouhiza), by accident, she distrusts him because, as always, she suspects he's using her to get to Etienne.
Ironically, she never questions the motives of her music teacher Sylvia Millet (Agnès Jaoui), a big fan of Etienne's, who is married to a struggling novelist Pierre (Laurent Grévill). Sylvia is prepared to tell Lolita that she can no longer coach her amateur choral group when she learns the identity of Lolita's father. Seeing an opportunity to advance her husband's career and meet a man she respects, she continues coaching Lolita and her friends.
As complicated at the story appears, the script written by the actors who portray Sylvia and Etienne (Jaoui also directed the film) is quite coherent and quite moving, providing some wonderful character studies and fine pacing.
Berry and Bacri serve up especially compelling performances as a daugher/father duo who both struggle with a difficult relationship divide that neither one seems capable of bridging solidly.
"Look at Me" opens Friday, May 27 at Landmark's Oriental Theatre.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
