VENICE 2021: Full Time ‘À Plein Temps’
VENICEEric Gravel's À Plein Temps is a harrowing albeit inspiring and poignant social commentary on the hardships of a single mother’s 9-5 life. It is a ferocious and constantly emotional feature that is both compelling yet horrifying to witness.
Gravel focuses more so on what would be considered the surface exploit of his feature. The writer-director engineers the film around the central character and world of Laure Calamy's Julie – more specifically, her family and work-life that often do not reciprocate in both time and adoration. The material is compelling enough, with Calamy showcasing terrific and often palpable emotional depth and torment that lingers underneath the skin but unravels and spirals as the pain of her existence becomes desperate and unbearable. The actress provides an outstanding emotive depiction that hits somewhere so deep emotionally that it is shocking, to a degree, how she can conjure up such levels of intensity.
The more profound and haunting commentary of mental vulnerability and financial constraints is ever-present, but the issue of France's political and social/economic desperation ultimately defines the feature. Ever present and conscious of being evaluated and explored, yet never in detriment to the single storyline; Gravel's talent to balance storyline and narrative, specifically with nuance and understanding of where to hammer home an activist voice of criticism towards the French government and capitalistic ways.
Shot with fluidity and freedom, Gravel explores these themes and subjects in Laure Calamy's utterly fabulous performance with a keen and compelling eye behind the camera. Along with cinematographer Victor Seguin and editor Mathilde Van de Moortel, the trio captures frantic and magnetic energy, resulting in a wildly crafted and immersive drama with a heartbreaking narrative. Never is the camera far enough removed to feel pushed away from the material but never totally involved in order not to feel claustrophobic.
Eric Gravel's À Plein Temps is not for the faint of heart. Disguised as a drama but ultimately at times feeling like a social commentary horror, Gravel's film is a terrific piece of cinema that has a loud and essential bark and bite when it comes to showcasing this story.
