Guy

Gauthier is a young journalist. Before she dies his mother tells him something: his father is Guy Jamet. Guy is a singer in his seventies; he was very popular in France for a period and is still touring. Gauthier does not introduce himself; instead he takes his camera, attaches himself to the man and pretends to be making a documentary. Guy accepts because he enjoys the attention. The camera follows him on stage, on the bus, in hotel rooms and in empty halls. Gauthier never says who he is. Guy never asks. Alex Lutz wrote and directed it and plays Guy. It is a French production. Lutz was not even in his forties when he made it; he played a man in his seventies in prosthetic make up and won the César for best actor for the part. The songs were written for the project; Guy Jamet is not a real singer and his repertoire was produced from nothing. Its form is the mock documentary; the camera is in Gauthier's hands throughout, and this is not a stylistic game but the narrative itself. The matter it treats is the daily condition of a career left in the past; the venues are not large, the halls half full, and nobody discusses it. The film does not mock Guy; the comedy comes out of the character's self assurance and that assurance is not broken. Its limit is structure; the narrative moves loosely and is flat for a viewer looking for a dramatic peak. Who it is for: viewers who like French comedy drama and character playing. Who it is not for: there is little event, the pace is slow, and the weight of music is high.