The luminous Isabelle Huppert returns to the screens in this noir comedy directed by Jean-Paul Salomé. Based on the novel by Hannelore Cayre, who also co-wrote the screenplay, The Godmother (aka Mama Weed) tells the story of a police-interpreter-turned drug lynch-pin.
An unbelievable scenario is relieved by the dark comedy, and the joyful portrait of female empowerment. Huppert’s character, Patience, is a Arabic-French translator for the French police. Listening in to drug dealer’s conversations, she decides to inveigle herself into the deals, feeding the police false information, and playing both sides against each other.
Huppert is ably supported in the cast by Hippolyte Girardot, Farida Ouchani and the wonderful Liliane Rovère, best known to Australian audiences as Arlette in Dix Pour Cent (Call My Agent).
This is a fun romp through police procedure, the complexities of drug dealing, and the work of a surveillance translator. It doesn’t take itself seriously, allowing for the anarchic comedy to shine through.
Not the most challenging role Huppert has taken on, her talents are possibly under-used, but her comedic timing is as spot-on as one would expect from an actor of her calibre.
The Godmother opens on May 20th
A FUN ROMP 3.5 stars
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