Official Selection: Competition section - PATCHWORK FAMILY (Du Goudron Et Des Plumes) by Pascal Rabaté

Patchwork Family is a modern family comedy drama. Nowadays, we have become quite used to seeing stories of split up families – this is of course a sign of modern times. Yet, what is striking about Rabaté’s film is its ability to seem like a traditionalist working class European comedy whilst utilising a more modern and compelling context that is relevant to its times.

In other words, the time setting here is not an entrapment. The story is that of Christian, a divorced father who attempts to gain back the love and respect of his daughter by initially reluctantly agreeing to take part in a televised triathlon. The attempt alone is enough to influence an array of positive side effects that makes him feel more included within his neighbourhood’s community, leads him to finding another chance at love through a lonesome pregnant women and even makes him feel bad about his crooked lifestyle and makes him want to set things straight.

Of course, life complications get in the way and slow the process. Yet, they never quite pose the type of threat one would hope would make the story more credible and truly realistic. And despite Christian (Sami Boujila) being of Arabic descent, the theme of racial conflict is hardly explored and this heavily restricts the potential message this film could have carried.

Perhaps it is true that Rabaté’s true goal with Patchwork Family is to simplify a genre that is all too often abused and misused. In that sense, as a triumph of simplicity in portraying a human and intimate story, it is quite charming and entertaining. This film gets its laughs and in the end is quite pleasant overall.