DRIVING MADELEINE

How often do we encounter someone for a brief time, who rewards our soul and shapes our understanding of humanity simply by offering a different lens through which to calibrate the world around us?  Driving Madeleine is an immensely fulfilling movie that explores one such encounter.

The film’s real name is Une Belle Course.  It is a French movie that debuted at the Toronto Film Festival in 2022 (released in theaters in January of 2024), directed by Christian Carion.  Unless you speak French, you will need to turn on English subtitles!    A 92-year-old woman named Madeleine (Line Renaud) requires a taxi ride from the house she is being forced to vacate, to the retirement home where she will reluctantly live out her final days.  Her taxi driver, Charles (Dany Boon) is a jaded middle-aged man with no financial security and strained relationships with those in his life.  As the taxi ride commences, Madeleine attempts to engage in conversation with Charles.  At first, he isn’t interested because he is preoccupied with his life.  But Madeleine’s charm, beguiling nature, and storytelling begin to pique his attention.

It might be easy to presume this is merely a French equivalent to Driving Miss Daisy or even Green Book.  While the basic setup might be similar (two people confined to a vehicle learning about each other), Driving Madeleine is the superior film of the three, in my opinion.  Its story is more concise (the film runs a mere 91 minutes).  The characters are unveiled beautifully through their dialogue and don’t require a heavy supporting cast to flesh them out.  Madeleine’s story takes twists and turns you don’t expect and it exposes several social imbalances that women have endured over the last century.  Much of Madeleine’s story is told through flashbacks.  Charles' story on the other hand is revealed solely through his memory and dialogue. 

As their drive proceeds, Madeleine begins to ask Charles if he will stop at several different places around Paris where key moments in her life took place.  The setting in Paris is absolutely breathtaking, and the cinematography captures it in a way that makes me want to visit the city.  Something that before now I had no interest in.  This film is not only visually stunning, but it is also acoustically divine.  Phillipe Rombi weaves an original score around some perfectly selected classic songs, several in English including This Bitter Earth (Dinah Washington) and At Last (Etta James).

Line Renaud is a revered French actress and singer who was actually 93 when she filmed this role.  She is magnificent in her portrayal of Madeleine.  While the health of Madeleine’s body may be declining, her mind and wit are operating at full capacity, and she is going to make the most of every moment she can.  She has the wisdom of someone who has lived a very, very full life, but still finds interest in knowing all she can about others… including a taxi driver named Charles.  Madeleine’s flashback sequences have actress Alice Isaaz stepping into the role, and her performance detracts nothing from the brilliance that Line Renaud establishes as older Madeleine.  Rounding out the primary cast is Dany Boon as Charles.  Boon’s performance is wonderful. You feel his pent-up anger, his disillusionment with life, and his reluctance to drop his armor of emotional distance as he slowly falls under the spell of the passenger in his back seat.  His final scene in the movie is the only time we see him interact with his wife Karine (Julie Delarme, who makes the most of her tiny role), and his performance is unforgettable.

While there is a bit of predictability as the tale rides to its conclusion, it doesn’t make the film any less satisfying. Madeleine and Charles, are two people who meet by sheer fate and who change each other’s lives for the better.  In just one day.