Romuald Et Juliette [DVD] [1989]

A film that I would call 'sympathique', overall. It shows the distinct role and place in society, according to your job without scorn for the lower or 'licking the higher one's boots'. The cleaner is treated in a friendly way without being condescendent to her and the cleaner knows her place but does not act as a servant either. She just does her job conscientiously. But she sees everything that is going on around the office and the business and she does not hesitate to help the weaker one, i.e. the boss who is being eaten up by the others.Two main features come out in this film. Nastiness and hypocrisy between the honest (but blind) boss and the wolves who surround him. The boss is young and trusting. The others take advantage of it. They are just dishonest and very greedy.Second feature, the boss, helped by the cleaner, wants to get back on his feet and fight all these crooks. But at no time does he look around him to see how little this helping family has to live, in a two-bedroom flat for 6 people and broken material that can't be changed or repaired for want of money and time. It takes him a very long time to, eventually, wake up.Overall, it is an entertaining film, full of truth, quite funny (ironic, too) at times and sensitive. Good to watch when one's mood is not not at the top.

This movie begins by introducing the two very different lives of Romuald and Juliette. Romuald is a managing director of a large corporate business with a perfect family, an impeccable lifestyle and a business on the 'up'. His life is juxtaposed to that of Juliette. She is poor, no longer married to any of her children's five fathers, and earns money to try and keep everybody afloat by working night shifts cleaning the building where Romuald's corporate offices are located. Through interesting and at times hilarious twists in the plot the two characters become friends and work together to figure out their lives, their jobs and their relationships with those near and dear.I don't want to ruin the plot for those who have yet to see it but will say that while the movie is quite hilarious at times and some of the child actors are superb, the plot goes further than what I think it ought to have done toward the end of the movie. The last 20 minutes or so is somewhat unbelieveable and I wish it hadn't ended as it did - that really is my only 'sticky' point. Despite this I do think that 'Romuald and Juliette' is a good movie and I look forward to watching it again and again in years to come.

Imagine Romeo and Juliet with out all the tragedy and here you have Romuald Et Juliette a film about love crossing the classes - he is a slender, elegant, upper middle class business man, pampered from his elegantly coiffured head to his italian leather clad toes, he doesn't know the meaning of self sacrifice and she is Afro-french mother of many with not enough hours in the day to think about her self, she is a "make do and mend "sort of woman - their lives seem destined never to cross until the day she uncovers a scheme to frame him for the collapse of the company he chairs. Together they unravel the plot and in the process fall in love, he learns how to care of others and she learns how to be cared for.I hunted high and low for this film for years, harassing anyone who set foot in France to see if they could buy it for me and finally it has been released.If you enjoyed Amelie and are looking to dip your toe further into the pool of French cinema I highly recommend this movie.

I loved the French take of the original story, it is more about two ethnic cultures, the rich poor divide. On a surface level enjoyable, would have loved it dubbed with English voices, but the subtitles does not distract from the storyline.If you take the storyline deeper there are some major problems as white educated rich male, rescues Black, poor, cleaner woman by marrying her and taking her and her five children out of poverty. The storyline does make it clear that Romuald is not as astute as he thinks he is.Juliette clearly understand people, knows Romuald business better than he does and she is more intelligent and aware of what is going one around. My favourite bits are when he proposes and Juliette tells him straight why she will never marry him, wonderful, excellent.The slap she delivers to her son when he comes out of prison. More parents should take her lead, then our society might be much better. Worth a watch, it is funny, sad, deep, light hearted, a roller coaster of events and emotions.

Daniel Auteil is Romuald, a wealthy businessman who runs a company producing yoghurt. he is set up by some other company employees to appear he is guilty of insider trading and poisoning the yoghurt in an elaborate scam to make money. The only person who can help him is Juliette, the office cleaning lady. he ends up staying at juliette's crowded apartment (she has five children, all by different fathers), while he struggles to regain control of his life. And his wife is also having an affair with another man, to add to his troubles. Although this film is quite amusing, there are a few things about it i find troubling, most of all the way the children's fathers are treated. they apparently see their children only once a year, on 'husbands day' and none of the appear to contribute to the support of their children. nobody seems to mind this, not the children, nor the fathers. the message seems to be that fathers don't matter. Romuald's lack of gratitude towards Juliette for her help is also rather strange. Also, the way he rather suddenly and abruptly falls for juliette near the end of fhe film, not having shown any sign of doing so before, is rather odd. the love story is not very convincing. one way and another, this is an unsatisfactory film.