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Not Here to Be Loved
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Wikipedia article
'Not Here to Be Loved' is a 2005 French film directed by Stphane Briz.
Plot
Fifty years old and divorced, Jean-Claude Delsart is an emotionally withdrawn bailiff who has taken over the family business from his father. He pays a weekly visit to the care home where this cantankerous father now lives, but they are uncomfortable occasions where the father takes pains to hide any sign of affection towards him. Jean-Claude has in turn compelled his own son Jean-Yves to join him in the business; the son is more interested in raising house-plants but does not have the courage to tell his father that he hates the work of bailiff.
When a heart murmur obliges Jean-Claude to take exercise, he opts for tango lessons in the studio opposite his office. There Franoise Rubion recognises in him the older son of her former nanny and chooses him as her dance partner, initially to escape the attentions of an admirer in the same class. Her reason to learn to tango is so as to be able to take part creditably in the opening dance after her forthcoming wedding. Her fianc Thierry was meant to have joined her there but is too absorbed in the difficulty of trying to write a novel so as to escape his job as a school teacher.
As the relationship between Jean-Claude and Franoise slowly blossoms, they begin to take stock of their personal situations. Jean-Claude argues with his father over his having thrown away the tennis trophies he won as a youngster and leaves in anger. Franoise becomes increasingly unhappy at being dominated by her mother and elder sister and taken for granted by Thierry. Then the jealous rival reveals that Franoise is to be married and, when she tries to explain things to Jean-Claude at his office, he accuses her of making a fool of him and asks her to leave.
The death of Jean-Claudes father brings him personal insight. Opening a locked cupboard in his room, he discovers there all the tennis trophies and newspaper cuttings that his parent pretended to have cleared out. Returning to his office, he tells Jean-Yves to leave the job he knows that he hates. Then his secretary, a spinster with only a dog to care for, confesses to Jean-Claude that she listened to his quarrel with Franoise and advises him not to make the same mistake as she had in the past and to seize his chance of happiness. He crosses the street to the dance studio and is met by the welcoming smile of Franoise.
Cast
* Patrick Chesnais as Jean-Claude Delsart
* Anne Consigny as Franoise "Fanfan" Rubion
* Georges Wilson as Jean-Claude's father
* Lionel Abelanski as Thierry
* Anne Benot as Hlne
* Cyril Couton as Jean-Yves Delsart
* Olivier Claverie as Tango course mate
* Genevive Mnich as Franoise's mother
* Hlne Alexandridis as Franoise's sister
Awards and nominations
*'Csar Awards' (France)
**Nominated: Best Actor – Leading Role (Patrick Chesnais)
**Nominated: Best Actress – Leading Role (Anne Consigny)
**Nominated: Best Actor – Supporting Role (Georges Wilson)
*'European Film Awards'
**Nominated: Best Actor (Patrick Chesnais)
*'San Sebastin International Film Festival' (Spain)
**'Won': CEC Award for Best Film
**Nominated: Golden Seashell (Stphane Briz)
*'Pyongyang International Film Festival' (North Korea)
**'Won': Best Director (Stphane Briz)
References
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