The Midwife (2017)

One of the advantages to Curzon membership is that it offers members-only previews of some films - usually something either a bit arty or not in the English language. So if being the first to see something that no one else has probably heard about floats your boat, then membership is well worth it.

My reasons for going to the preview showing of The Midwife were slightly less artistically-minded - it was showing at the right time, and it was also in the Renoir at Curzon's Bloomsbury cinema, which is the nicest of all their screens (and the only one where the projector isn't angled so that people at the back can cast their shadow across the screen when they arrive after the film has started).

The film itself stars Catherines Deneuve and Frot, and for anyone familiar with either of those two actresses is unsurprisingly in French. It's the story of a midwife (Frot) who has to deal with the arrival back in her life after 30 years of her father's ex-girlfriend (whose leaving contributed to her father's suicide), her clinic closing down, and as a third subplot, the visit of her college student son and his girlfriend. Plus there's a romantic bit with a truck driver.

It's a bit lacking in focus, and overstays its welcome by a saggy 20 minutes or so. The acting is great from Frot, who is incredibly watchable in her performance. I was slightly less taken with Deneuve - but that may have been more about her character, which seemed to be oddly muted. The part seemed to call for a more flamboyant character than we actually received - and as such wasn't as compelling as I would have liked.

Overall it was a watchable enough film, with some lovely camerawork and a nice pace to it - a little more focus, a bit of work on Deneuve's character and it could have really been something great.