Aurore (Agnes Jaoui), in her fifties, separated from her husband and soon to be a grandmother, simultaneously faces unemployment and menopause.
From this somewhat twilight non-story, director Blandine Lenoir crafts a rather moving slice of life (even though it is far from a feel-good movie). It’s because Aurore, despite everything, doesn’t give up on happiness… and it’s a good thing she doesn’t. After bumping into obstacles everywhere, she eventually finds it.
One of the merits of this film is having set this somewhat chaotic quest in a working-class environment, far from the eternal bourgeois bohemian or outright bourgeois families that dominate French cinema. Aurore is a waitress and does cleaning jobs, her lover is a clinic technician, her husband is a manual worker. Her daughters haven’t pursued higher education, and her apartment is small and cluttered. The restaurant where the waiters sing opera will be the film’s only luxury.
A film where those often forgotten by modern cinema — the supporting roles — are particularly well cared for (with a special mention to the employment agency worker who doesn’t finish her sentences and the former classmate who takes offense at Aurore’s long-past matrimonial choice).
Even though the final happy ending is somewhat conventional, “Aurore” is a beautiful portrait of a woman, embodied by Agnes Jaoui, who brings much humanity to her character with humility. Thanks to her, Aurore’s twilight will not remain without promise…
by Patrick Mottard
