Driving Madeleine

In Paris a taxi driver, Charles, picks up Madeleine, ninety two, to take her to a care home. She is in no hurry; there are places along the way she wants to stop. Charles is in debt, irritable, and wants the job over. As they cross the city Madeleine tells him about her life, and the further she gets the longer the journey becomes. Christian Carion directs. Line Renaud plays Madeleine and Dany Boon plays Charles. There is something unexpected at the centre. Madeleine is not constructed as a charming old lady; there is violence from her husband in her past and there is what she did about it, and the film shows both plainly in flashback. Line Renaud played the part at ninety four. A singer and actress with a career of over seventy years in France, and the film was noted as one of the late works of that career. The constraint is the idea: nearly the entire running time is inside a car and the city is seen through the window. Paris is used as a route rather than as a sight. The French title is Une belle course, which means both a fine journey and a good fare on the meter. Who it is for: viewers who like two hander road films and stories across generations. Who it is not for: the emotional register is too plain in places and the ending is predictable, and Charles's transformation arrives quickly.