Haute Fromage
What do you know? A coming-of-age drama can be smart, realistic and play by the rules. Vive la France.
Holy Cow
Director: Louise Courvoisier • Writer: Louise Courvoisier, Théo Abadie
Starring: Clément Faveau, Maïwene Barthelemy, Luna Garret, Mathis Bernard
France • 1hr 32mins
Opens Hong Kong July 3 • IIB
Grade: B+
Under normal circumstances “haute fromage” would be an insult. High cheese is exactly what it sounds like – and let’s face it. A coming-of-age drama about a small town teen coming to terms with his father’s death and a new responsibility for his elementary school-aged sister is ripe for cheesiness. Movies like this often are. But remember what I was saying about F1, and how in the right hands with the right attitude, formula isn’t necessarily a bad thing? First time feature director Louise Courvoisier’s Holy Cow (Vingt Dieux, literally “20 gods”) makes that rule two-for-two this… fortnight, because Courvoisier and co-writer Théo Abadie look up every rule in the coming-of-age playbook and almost scientifically dissect them and decide whether they need to honour them or tweak them. In doing so Holy Cow becomes a legit low-key, emotionally honest crowdpleaser, powered by a ghastly little shit, Totone (newcomer Clément Faveau), that you initially want to smack but can’t help but pull for as he grows up – fast. Yes, that’s the point of a coming-of-age movie, but how often do you wind up rolling your eyes at so much nonsense? Yeah, often. Only a French coming-of-age story could pivot on making the perfect comté and not be bloody stupid, but it would be easy to swap out the comté for a whisky or a loubaakgou thanks to the story’s general resonance and authentic humanity. For the record you will want cheese when it’s over.
You can practically smell the cows
Holy Cow starts with 18-year-old Totone (Faveau) tearing it up during summer in the rural Jura region like most 18-year-olds. He hangs out with his pals Francis (Dimitry Baudry) and derby racer (?) Jean-Yves (Mathis Bernard), picks up hot girls that are way out of his league at the country fair and when he doesn’t please them, starts fights with their much older male friends. While Totone’s cutting up, his father is drinking too much and driving, and he ignores his seven-year-old sister Claire (Luna Garret, who is 0% annoying) as a pest. Sure enough dad’s drinking and driving gets him killed, and before you know it Totone is left alone to care for Claire. He gets a job wtih a local cheesemaker, but his short temper, immaturity and a violent history with co-workers Cyril (Armand Sancey Richard) and Pierrick (Lucas Marillier) sends him packing. But dad was a cheesemaker too, and when Totone hears that winning a gold medal for outstanding comté at a regional competition can earn him €30,000 he decides cheese is in his future.
Naturally, Francis and Jean-Yves chip in to help, and knowing the key to comté is superior milk, Totone seduces dairy farmer Marie-Lise (Maïwene Barthelemy, giving Gallic Bella Ramsey energy) so they can steal it from her. Stealing it is critical because Totone has no money, and Marie-Lise’s brothers are Cyril and Pierrick. They wouldn’t sell it to him even if he asked. Though Courvoisier and Abadie gleefully head down the well worn coming-of-age path (there’s a putting the plan in motion montage, second act conflict, betrayals, etc) they’re aggressive in stepping off it just as much, playing with our expectations of the sub-genre enough to stay engaged while veering into more realistic territory while they do (friends may be lost forever, a hard-fought underdog victory is questionable, etc). There are letdowns along the way for Totone, but there are also surprises and revelations; that’s the way it goes. The AOC rules for cheese alone are a life lesson.
Despite Courvoisier’s sure – but nearly invisible – hand Holy Cow’s appeal rests with its first-time or non-professional cast, whose rawness and obliviousness to knowing where their light is helps with the film’s veracity, though Elio Balezeaux’s natural light cinematography and the sun-dappled Jura countryside help too. Courvoisier grew up in Jura and she captures that rural, one-horse-town vibe effortlessly, balancing the semi-remote idyll with the restlessness it can inspire. Faveau carries most of the film, and watching him slowly creep towards maturity is satisfying and frequently hilarious. Totone may not hit full-blown adulthood by the closing shots but you kind of don’t want him to; being together enough to get Claire to school on time, pick her up, to know when he owes an apology and when to accept forgiveness is enough, and Faveau makes passing each milestone monumental without announcing it with extraneous tears. Matching him as the prod he needs to smarten up is Barthelemy who, get this, won a César Award for Best Female Revelation last year. This is a thing? This is a thing. Other winners of this bizarre award have included Audrey Tautou and Mélanie Laurent – with Léa Seydoux and Lily-Rose Depp among the losers. Twice. Either way Barthelemy is entirely deserving as the mellow, suspicious farm girl with a sex drive who has a hand in Totone’s growth. Holy Cow is smart and relatable because Courvoisier makes the characters smart and relatable, to us and to each other; everyone will recognise Totone’s youthful foolery, and maybe a little grief, for what it is, making the closing moments hopeful and bittersweet, suggesting life will go on, however awkwardly. It’s coming-of-age, not coming-of-perfection. Except the comté. That should be perfect.