Home [15]

Directed by Ursula Meier, the film Home tells a hugely thought provoking tale. Centred around a French family living a somewhat unusual but contented life in their lone house on the edge of an unfinished motorway, playing street hockey on said motorway during the evening and gathering as a family to watch TV outside at night. However, as you may have expected, this odd yet idyllic picture is doomed from the start. Sure enough before long, the workmen arrive to complete the dormant highway.

Set against a backdrop of rural France, the only synthetic structure in sight (aside from the family's home) is the motorway that stretches into the distance. The beauty of the setting was clearly not lost on Meier, as she utilised the stretching fields and far-off hills to create some truly stunning cinematography.

As the first cars and trucks come rumbling along the newly opened motorway they bring with them an increasing amount of problems for the family, the constant noise, the pollution and danger, all appearing on the scene to disrupt their previous happiness. And, after several weeks of living as though in a goldfish bowl, under the constant watch of those driving by, Michel, the father, is forced to take drastic action.

Apart from Olivier Gourmet and Isabelle Huppert, who play the mother and father, the rest of the small cast are relative unknowns, although it would be impossible to tell given their convincing portrayal of a family in turmoil.

The film seems to be making a comment on several aspects of modern life - most notably the idea of having our private lives under scrutiny from outsiders as well as what happens when we try to resist this invasion of privacy. 

As six independent film awards attest, Home is well worth a watch.

Rowena Purrett (DI Reviewer), 06/09/09

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