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British townies aren't alone in dreaming of quitting the rat race to start afresh in the country. So, it appears, do the French. Thirty-year-old Sandrine (Seigner), the heroine of "The Girl From Paris", is just such a dreamer and at the start of Christian Carion's film, she quits her computer job in the city to become a farmer in south-east France.
Sandrine buys a remote mountain farm in the Rhone-Alpes from elderly widower Adrien (Serrault), who has lost his livelihood to mad cow disease. But the grumpy, childless Adrien plans to remain in the farmhouse as a tenant for a year, which places the newcomer in an awkward situation.
At first, Adrien scoffs at Sandrine's innovations on the farm, which include promoting ecological holidays on the Internet and welcoming coach-loads of schoolchildren. But Adrien's scepticism turns to grudging admiration for Sandrine's pragmatism and resilience, and, as winter comes, the pair's frosty relationship gradually thaws.
Sandrine doesn't find a country idyll, however. First-time director Carion isn't serving up simple escapism. As the son of farmers, he has a clear-eyed and unsentimental view of rural life. True, he does give us soaring shots of beautiful mountain pastures, but he also shows us the harsh realities of farming in unflinching close up.
Veteran actor Serrault and rising newcomer Seigner (last seen in a very different role as the working-class mother in "Betty Fisher and Other Stories") pitch their performances perfectly, skilfully underplaying to match Carion's understated direction. As a result, their characters' evolving, surrogate father-daughter relationship is believable and touching.
After seeing "The Girl from Paris", viewers may well feel the desire to jump on a plane and move to the Rhone-Alpes. But unless you're are made of stern stuff, you'll soon be scurrying back to Blighty.
In French with English subtitles.
