The first few minutes of ‘Mrs Harris’s Trip to Paris’ consist of a bunch of little minor characters openly saying what a good person their protagonist is. “What would I do without you, Mrs. Harris”, “You are an angel, Mrs. Harris” and those kinds of hackneyed phrases that serve to introduce us to a very friendly world full of very good people in a film that will not go down in history but does its job: leave the heart warm as long as you don’t try to analyze it a little bit and the house of cards collapses.
Gender: ladies in the Golem
We can be arguing for years about whether the cinema will be saved with superheroes or if will be the independent films those that will sooner or later dominate the box office, but the truth is that there are other types of films that will always -always- sweep their audiences: those aimed at the ladies (and gentlemen, to a lesser extent) who are more moviegoers than crowd small cinemas to see that “French comedy of the year” that we millennials so ironically rant about.
‘Mrs Harris’s Trip to Paris’ it has good intentions, a consistent plot and characters that it is easy to fall in love with within their simplicity: I cannot say that I liked it, but it is perfect in the execution of its duty. It is predictable, all the characters are mere outlines of a personality and reasonably impossible situations take place one after another. Yes, and? In the same way that ‘Citizen Kane’ cannot be demanded of ‘Loving Christmas’, neither can we be demanded of ‘Mrs. Harris’ Trip to Paris’.
Nobody is bitter about a sweet, of course, but Anthony Fabian’s film is like a glucose tray for two hours: you know that the misfortunes will be solved a scene later, the characters will triumph and absolutely nothing will break with the established in this type of film. That is, Mrs. Harris will save Dior from herself without much bump or pretend at any time to give a history lesson. If what you expected was a kind of ‘The Gucci house’ with another brand, you are going to be disappointed.
The good ones are very good (the bad ones too)
Yes, at the script level, ‘Mrs Harris’s trip to Paris’ seems made by an artificial intelligence on a slightly lazy day: the good guys will be able to fall in love and achieve their goals, and the bad guys will end up paying for what they’ve done, with some nuance along the way that is solved in a simple scene.
But what he suffers to turn Paul Galico’s book into an interesting story, he makes up for it with excellent photography and outstanding costumes. If you love haute couture, this film is a must: the dresses that flash before our eyes are absolutely captivating, and the way Christian Dior worked (and which nearly bankrupted him) is more appealing than anything else.
In the same way, and in front of a more static cast than it should be, almost like actors reciting their dialogue for the first time, Lesley Manville (‘The Invisible Thread’) shines with its own light like a Mrs. Harris whose biggest problem is that she is constantly reminded of what a good person she is and how kind she is, almost like a mantra to convince the viewer. If her actions are not capable of showing us the extreme kindness that they should, they will have to be the words artificially those that tirelessly remind us that Mrs. Harris is little less than a day-to-day Mary Poppins, a resource as boring as it is inefficient.
And despite everything, it works
You may think that this review is a massacre of ‘Mrs. Harris’s Trip to Paris’, but it is not. It’s predictable, it’s born outdated and lacks personal style, but it doesn’t need it and its audience doesn’t ask for it. There is a very powerful market for cookies, tea and Dior dresses movies that understands its audience better than many blockbusters. And in this sense, knowing what you are going to find, the tape makes you feel at easelike entering a small room and having a snack next to a little stove.
No crazy twists await you, no historical scenes that stick with you, not even a character evolution that goes beyond the script manual: to do all that would be to betray your own spirit of a quiet film, to watch calmly, enjoy calmly and curled up in the seat, letting yourself be rocked by the calm murmur of the audiovisual routine.
The same thing happens to me with ‘Mrs. Harris’ trip to Paris’ as to Boyero when they take him to see one of Marvel: I’m not his target audience, but luckily, I have enough empathy to know that there is, and that You are going to be absolutely smitten with the personality of Mrs. Harris., the little dramatic twists wisely scattered throughout the film and its light empowerment. And that’s what stops me from downplaying it and calling it “a Sunday afternoon movie” or “only for big Dior fans.” Sometimes, everything comes down, as the film itself wants to teach us, to think a little about others.