Offering a delightfully authentic alternative to the holiday box office blockbusters, this French comedy about the Portuguese population of Paris is a joy from start to finish.
Portuguese actor Joaquim De Almeida, recognisable to English-speaking action fans as the bad guy in everything from Clear and Present Danger to 24 to Fast Five demonstrates considerable sensitivity and poise as José Ribeiro, the patriarch of a Portuguese family who live in the concierge’s quarters of an upscale Parisian apartment building.
José and his concierge wife Maria (Rita Blanco) are indispensable to their employers and friends, and the quagmire that results when they inherit a vineyard back in Portugal involves multiple lines of miscommunication and some wildly unjustified resentment. The film is equally concerned with José and Maria’s French-born children, who are torn between the lineage of their parents and the glamour of France.
The social and familial dynamics examined in this film are not new, but feel fresh for the lightness of the filmmaking and the uniqueness of the cultural environment on display. The ensemble film spreads itself across a huge number of characters who all get their due – the humour and pathos that results is well-earned.
The Gilded Cage left me feeling all warm inside. At a time of year when your family may drive you nuts, this is a wonderful reminder as to why that’s a good thing.
