Cast: Chiara Mastroianni, Melvil Poupaud, Hubert Saint-Macary, Serge Merlin, Mathieu Amalric,
Daniele Dubroux, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Micheline Presle
Director: Daniele Dubroux
Producer: Paulo Branco
Screenplay: Daniele Dubroux
Cinematography: Laurent Machuel
Music: Jean-Marie Senia
U.S. Distributor: Leisure Time Features
In French with subtitles
Upon hearing that Diary of a Seducer was based on a book by noted thinker Soren Kierkegaard, I wondered if I, not being a student of philosophy (and not having read Diary of a Seducer), might be at a disadvantage. As it turns out, while writer/director Daniele Dubroux toys with some of Kierkegaard's ideas, this is basically a quirky, lighthearted comedy that isn't remotely interested in deep thought.
The film is structured in an atypical fashion, and it's virtually impossible to predict at the beginning where it's likely to end up. In fact, what opens as a fairly straightforward comedy about the failed exploits of an inept seducer turns into something dark and offbeat, with more than a slight element of magic thrown into the mix. Diary of a Seducer is presented in a non-chronological fashion that makes it a little confusing to determine the relationship of certain scenes to others. In fact, there are times when the movie seems more like a series of loosely-connected episodes strung together than a feature with a central narrative. The "umbrella story" that binds Diary's diverse elements is not the film's strongest aspect.
The central figure is Claire (Chiara Mastroianni), a college student who one day brings home a down-on-his-luck young man named Sebastien (Mathieu Amalric). Sebastien tells Claire a sad story about being gay and misunderstood, but his real goal is to seduce her. When his unsubtle attempts to sleep with her fail, he turns his attentions to Claire's mother, Anne (Dubroux), who is both less gullible and more willing than her daughter.
Initially, it seems that the Claire/Sebastien/Anne triangle is going to provide Diary's main storyline. Ultimately, however, it proves to be little more than a minor comic subplot. The primary narrative involves a magical copy of Kierkegaard's Diary of a Seducer, which casts a love spell on anyone who reads it. That person becomes obsessed by the one who gave them the book to read. So, when a thoughtful, reserved young man named Gregoire (Melvil Poupaud) presents Claire with the volume, she ends up in his thrall.
Dubroux has populated her film with a wild assortment of oddball characters. In fact, no one in this film is "normal" by traditional standards. There's an eccentric party host who waves a gun at his guests, a strange scientist who keeps decaying oxtails in his apartment, and an psychiatrist who ruins his marriage by calmly telling his wife that he's obsessing over a patient. Even Gregoire, who initially seems almost ordinary, is hiding a startling secret, and it's not just that he shares his residence with an agoraphobic grandmother.
One of the picture's strongest assets is the performance of leading lady Chiara Mastroianni (Ma Saison Prefere), the daughter of Catherine Deneuve and late actor Marcello Mastroianni. Talented, attractive, and charming, Mastroianni does much of her acting (and reacting) with facial expressions, some of which are priceless. Many of the other cast members, including veteran French actor Jean-Pierre Leaud, the delightfully bumbling Mathieu Amalric, and Dubroux herself, perform on an equally high level. The lone exception is Melvil Poupaud, whose Gregoire is supposed to come across as mysterious and brooding (he is referred to one at least one occasion as "Hamlet"), but instead seems ineffectual.
I appreciate Diary of a Seducer for its energy and humor (this is a rare French film that delivers laughs without resorting to the stupidity of movies like The Visitors). There are things here that don't work - the entire magic book plot strand is poorly developed and ineffectively resolved (the payoff, such as it is, doesn't live up to expectations). But the movie holds the viewer's interest, and, though the final destination reached by Diary of a Seducer may be something of a disappointment, the journey undertaken to arrive there is enjoyable enough to provide adequate compensation for any eventual shortcomings.
© 1997 James Berardinelli