“On S’Embrasse?” Review

This outstanding short film directed by Pierre Olivier

 concisely presents two characters to the audience who live a brief encounter created by fate, portraying in a well-achieved way their reactions.

The film begins with a woman (Alice Carel) entering a coffee shop and reading a paper. The following shot shows a solitaire man (Jean-Luc Abel) 

in an empty table. As the woman approaches the man she asks him if he could help her run lines for a movie she is auditioning for in a short while. As the actress sits down, the director employs consecutive close-ups of both characters as they read.

As the woman starts to recite her lines, there is obvious tension between the characters, but as they continue reading, the tension slowly fades. Olivier is able to depict these as he continues to employ wonderful close-ups of both characters, which get closer in every take. As the two characters read the story two consecutive times, the man suggests the woman to recite her lines in a different way, smiling, as well as the final question, on s’embrasse? (shall we kiss?) As she does so, the audience realises, at the same time than the actress that the man has been dumped recently, and tears begin to descend form her eyes, arriving to the climax of the story.

Thanking the man for his help, and apologising for any inconvenience, the woman abandons the coffee store and, after a close-up of the man, a second woman emerges from the bathroom and, just like in the script he had read before, announces she is leaving and asks if they should kiss (on s’embrasse).

In conclusion, this extraordinary  short film gives a final turn and surprises the audience with the final question, making the audience aware that the story narrated in the first woman’s script is the real situation of the man in the coffee store. However, Olivier decides that the character does not answer the final question, finalising the film with an open ending.

I believe this is a great short film and rate it with ****