3 corazones

Director Benoît Jacquot's "3 coeurs" ("3 Hearts") gathers on screen a stellar cast. The three lead feminine roles are trusted to Catherine Deneuve, Charlotte Gainsbourg, the daughter of ..., and Chiara Mastroianni, also the daughter of ... and also the daughter of Deneuve in real life. Gainsbourg and Mastroianni play the roles of two sisters in whose life shows up a man - the role is played by Benoît Poelvoorde, whom I have last time seen playing the role of ... God in The Brand New Testament, a film which you should search to see if you happen to have missed. The names and fame of the actors were the principal reasons for which I chose to see this film, and probably also the main reasons for which I will remember it.

Marc Beaulieu (Benoît Poelvoorde) is a tax inspector. A good one and probably even a man of integrity because we see him involved in valiantly handling a high-level corruption case (not really related to the rest of the story). Numbers and determinism may be his profession, but hazard seems to reign in his personal life, which looks like a mess in which he attracts also the two sisters, one after the other. His heart is also feeble, the heart which is said to be for humans the center of noble emotions, but which also distracts and derails the paths of life when it physically malfunctions. Should we let hazard (or destiny) reign upon our lives, or should we try to fix its effects? Is this even possible?

The questions raised by the story in the film are interesting, the resulting film is not really up to the premises. The principal reason is the pace of the story, which lingers for long periods, to jump suddenly at some moments, without a good connection between the different episodes. Good acting cannot save the flaws of the story and especially of the story telling, and despite the promises "3 coeurs" ends by being just another love triangle movie.