Singapore International Film Festival 2016
Baden Baden
Rating
M18 Sexual Scenes and Nudity
Language
French - subtitles to be advised
Cast
Salomé Richard, Claude Gensac, Swann Arlaud
Synopsis
Unable to send a client to work on time or even return a rental car, 26-year-old Ana is struggling day-to-day. After a painful telling-off by yet another boss, she returns home to take care of her grandmother, and takes it upon herself to renovate her grandmother’s bathroom in a quietly desperate bid to restore some semblance of purpose to her aimless life.
A powerful opening scene immediately reveals Baden Baden’s emotional core, evincing the sense of haplessness that follows Ana. Rachel Lang effuses the free-spirited Ana with a warm dose of sentimentality and affection that underscores a sense of truthfulness. She blends comedy and drama with dry humour and a Buster Keaton-like silliness in Ana’s friendship with a bemused handyman that bleeds of unexpected emotion.