The Hairdresser's Husband
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Hairdresser's Husband (Template:Lang-fr), a 1990 French film written by Patrice Leconte and Claude Klotz, and directed by Leconte. Jean Rochefort stars as the title character. Anna Galiena co-stars.
It won Patrice Leconte the Prix Louis Delluc. In 1991 it was nominated for "Best Foreign-Language Film" in the British Academy Awards.
Synopsis
The film begins in a flashback from the titular character, Antoine. We are introduced to his fixation with female hairdressers which began at a young age. The film uses flashbacks throughout and there are frequent parallels drawn with the past. Though Antoine tells Mathilde that 'the past is dead', his life is evidence that on some level the past repeats itself. As a young boy he fantasised about a hairdresser who committed suicide and as a man in his 50s he begins an affair with a hairdresser which ends after ten years in her suicide. However there are differences, Mathilde commits suicide because she is so happy she is afraid of the happiness she has found with Antoine ending.
We are unsure what Antoine has done with his life, however we know he has fulfilled his childhood ambition, to marry a haidresser. The reality proves to be every bit as wonderful as the fantasy and the two enjoy an enigmatic, enclosed and enchanting relationship. The final sequence shows Antoine, in the salon, dancing to Eastern music just as he has done throughout his life. The last line is that the hairdresser is coming though what this means is up to interpretation.
Cast
- Jean Rochefort - Antoine
- Anna Galiena - Mathilde
- Roland Bertin - Antoine's father
- Maurice Chevit - Ambroise Dupré dit Isidore Agopian
- Philippe Clévenot - Morvoisieux
- Jacques Mathou - Mr. Chardon
- Anne-Marie Pisani - Madame Shaeffer
Soundtrack
The soundtrack ([1]) was composed by Michael Nyman and also contains a great deal of Middle Eastern popular music. It was first released as an album in Japan by Soundtrack Listeners Communications (SLC) September 21, 1992 and has subsequently been released elsewhere.
