Sequins 2004

     This film is also titled A Common Thread.  Claire is 17 years old and she learns she is five months pregnant.  She decides she will give the baby up for adoption after she gives birth.  She has been working at a supermarket as a cashier.  The other employees have started to give her a difficult time about gaining weight.  She tells them she has cancer and she has been receiving treatments that cause weight gain.  She asks her doctor to write a note for the grocery store requesting medical leave.  She begins staying with her girlfriend.  Guillaume is the brother of her friend and he has been in a terrible motorbike accident.  His best friend was killed and he was the son of Madame Melikian.  Claire cautiously asks Madame Melikian if she can do the work her son had been doing?  Madame is grief stricken over her son’s death and she is an embroiderer for haute couture designers.  Claire has also been working on needlework projects and she’s very skilled at this type of job.

     This is a very quiet and calm movie with a slow pace except for a few scenes.  Some examples are the fighting at the grocery store, Claire’s reluctance to let anyone know about her pregnancy, Madame goes to the hospital after an accidental fall or a suicide attempt?  As the two women sew together, they create a bond despite their age and generational differences.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

89 min, Drama directed by Eleonore Faucher with Ariane Ascaride, Lola Naymark, Jackie Berroyer, Thomas Laroppe, Marie Felix, Anne Canovas, Marina Tome, Elisabeth Commelin, Christophe Hatey, Francois Noel.

Note:  Imdb 7 out of 10, 83% critic 80% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Slant Magazine 3* out of 4*, Amazon 4.8* out of 5* with 5 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Angouleme, Charente; Fleurie; Hoptial Le vinatire, Bron; Studio 24, Villeurbanne, Rhone, Rhone-Alpes.  This film was shown at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and won Critics Week Grand Prize and SACD Screenwriting Award.  The Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art selected it for inclusion in the 2005 edition of New Directors/New Films.  Also nominated for European Discovery of the Year at the 2004 European Film Awards.