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Hairdresser's Husband, The
Severin // R // April 28, 2009
List Price: $29.95 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Film:
Antoine (Jean Rochefort), our lead character in The Hairdresser's Husband (Le Mari de la Coiffeuse), has a fetish for large-breasted women that want to take his money and cut off his hair. Taken in the wrong context, some might see that as a phobia instead of a desire. Instead, I think you'd find that many more guys share a similar fondness to Antoine's situation, a desire built from a young boy's perversely entrancing summer filled with repeat visits to a female-owned barber shop. It's that rousing hunger, an acute sense of eroticism, that gives The Hairdresser's Husband both its undeniable provocativeness and its moments of insightful charm.
We follow Antoine (Jean Rochefort), now a grown man, as he reflects back on his childhood, interconnecting his budding desire with the decisions that led him to this point. What started as a fetish quickly became his identifier; some are heterosexual and some are homosexual, but Antoine is a feminine barber-sexual, desiring nothing more from his life than to find a beautiful hairdresser to share his life with. His search remained unsuccessful until he stumbled upon Mathilde (Anna Galiena), the sole proprietor of a little men-only salon located on a quaint French street. With his subtly quirky charm fueling his leap of faith, he and Mathilde begin a deep and sensual relationship that separates them from the rest of the world.
Since we're allowed to see that Antoine and Mathilde are romantically involved at the beginning of the story, The Hairdresser's Husband becomes a lighthearted and self-cautious reflection on the events from both Antoine's past and the present. He shows us how his passion led him to Mathilde's loving arms, viscerally taking us through the process of how the massaging fingertips of the hairdresser from his youth ignite the eroticism present in his hunt. He scoops up tidbits from his relationship with his family and drops them in front of us, letting us see how Antoine became the man that wanted nothing more than to live out his days with a woman like Mathilde. Composed in sepia-stained flashes, a sense of nostalgia fills every frame of the film that gives it a texture similar to a concentrated stream of consciousness from Antoine's memory.
The Hairdresser's Husband wears its manner as a modern European arthouse film with a lot of confidence, but in a soft and palatable way. From its conversational center that focuses on the pensiveness of the speakers instead of the content, to the lackadaisical demeanor that aims to titillate with a distinctively lush passion instead of dazzle with its conflicts, it's at times a little too walled-off from convention. While watching, I couldn't quite shrug off the feeling that Patrice Leconte knew he was making an artsy picture -- and wanted to boost up this quality as much as he could. It works in many marvelous scenes, such as a wonderful point where Antoine and Mathilde ransack their salon for something "unique" to drink in the wee hours of the morning. Others seem pressed into stretching out their content into a piece of art, like an artist trying to pull a length of resilient canvas to the corners of a wooden frame.
Its memory-esque cinematography and vastly likable characters manage to surmount this forgivable self-indulgence and give The Hairdresser's Husband a playfully indulgent aura. This is Antoine's story, and it takes a great amount of bittersweet joy in telling it. Highlighted by a fine pairing of old and young actors to portray Antoine, namely a concentrated turn from Jean Rochefort with a splash of quirk, it's near impossible not to empathize with either the quirky character or the objects of his (their) affection. Mathilde's charm, however, is the real allure to its passion. Anna Galiena gives a succulent and understated performance as the hairdresser, one that speaks volumes in saying very little. She'd likely be the toast among the men in town, transforming them all into Antoine-like fawners, if it weren't for her husband's hovering presence -- one that she shares no disappointment in having so close to her.
As each scene is photographed amid sun-drenched settings unquestionably filled with stirring warmth, it's easy to get wrapped up in the easygoing zeal behind their relationship. It takes on an aesthetic feel similar to the coffee shop in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amelie, one where the strangers that come and go make impressions on Antoine and Mathilde's life without ever digging deeper than surface level into the narrative. Since its several years Amelie's senior, it's likely that Jeunet may have pulled some influence from its execution while injecting more of his quirky sense of humor to the mix. They both speak to the cosmos of love, but in different ways -- Amelie to the unavoidable gravity between two souls, The Hairdresser's Husband to the inability to stray once they've found it.
There's a stark sense of eroticism and passion that heaves at the center of The Hairdresser's Husband, one that intermittently takes the breath away. Happiness, sexual satisfaction, and experimentation become driving factors in Antoine and Mathilde's life, though it spares us the graphic details and only gives us shots of their heartfelt, starry-eyed foreplay. And it's funny -- almost the opposite of dry humor, though that same stiff compulsion to laugh is there. But it's not out to make us laugh. Like Antoine's goofy dancing that he does to entertain a boy in Mathilde's salon, it simply brings a smile to our faces without trying to do more beyond its delightful means.
Even as it takes a somewhat foreseeable turn towards bleakness, there's still a sense of delight in its unswerving desire to embrace life to the fullest. The Hairdresser's Husband is simply a pleasurable time in the world of arthouse cinema, one that relishes in opening a window into a different style of romance that, though it might differ from our own, showcases a "dream come true" in Antoine's eyes. More than that, it takes a step back and allows us to absorb the things they enjoy, things that we might take for granted in our own domestic lives. Though bittersweet and highly docile, Patrice Leconte's picture is a satisfying endeavor of the heart.
The DVD:
Video and Audio:
Severin brings The Hairdresser's Husband overseas to Region One in an anamorphic widescreen presentation, preserving the 2.35:1 framing of its original theatrical distribution. Naturally, the color timing leans closer to a dusty, drab palette, a move that heightens the dreamy texture of the film. It's slightly hazy and grows a little weak in its coloring, but there's still a healthy level of detail to be made out in the salon sequences. Though there's a fair level of grain, most of it appears to the film-based and, for the most part, doesn't encroach on facial detail or clothing textures. Also impressive is the disc's handling of contrast during darker sequences, rendering plenty of inky blacks and workable mid-range tones through nighttime sequences (primarily Antoine and Mathilde's little raucous. Pleasant and accurately framed, Severin's disc showcases the material to a nice degree.
The Hairdresser's Husband's Dolby 2.0 Stereo track sounds fairly strong, considering its limitations. Vocal strength and musical accompaniment both pour out robust enough, though the music seems mixed a little louder than it probably should be. The graceful snips of a pair of metal scissors fill the speakers with nice delicateness, clipping through the sound of Antoine's jukebox with a graceful quality during his enchanting little dance for the boy getting his haircut. It's an unobtrusive, serviceable track that does the job that it needs to do with the film -- without anything all that exciting. Though the subtitles are of a very strong quality, they're only available in English -- and burned it, for that matter.
Special Features:
Leconte on Leconte: Part 1 (36:14, 16x9):
Focusing completely on the director, this featurette takes us deep into the construction of The Hairdresser's Husband. He discusses themes, his actors, and film as a medium in itself. Leconte's a very insightful director, one that obviously deeply appreciates his own work -- and enjoys sharing his affection with his audience. His interviewed is accompanied by yellow, burned-in subtitles.
The Hairdresser's Recollections (17:41, 16x9)
Anna Galienda reflects on her time working on The Hairdresser's Husband in, as she says her self, romantic fashion. It's a solid block of interview time with the actress where she discusses being cast in the film and the process of working with Leconte and Jean Rochefort. She's an enchanting woman, both to the eyes and to the ears, and her gleeful insight is a greatly pleasing listen. She speaks in English, while no subtitles are available to pair with the material.
Also included is an anamorphic Theatrical Trailer which, by design, is by far the most obvious example of a "teaser" trailer that I think I've ever seen.
Final Thoughts:
Modest in design yet radiant to a fault, The Hairdresser's Husband captures the profound excitement that a man shares for voluptuous women with shears and turns it into a touching tale of unswerving love. Rochefort gives us a heartwarming hero with Antoine, but Anna Galiena's subtle sultriness almost works as the flame that lights the entire picture's rather warm disposition. It carries a very strong Recommendation, as returning to its charms will grow better with each time we're able to see Antoine's happy-go-lucky dance. Though it borders along the lines of being "too" much like an arthouse film, it's still a supple cinematic experience well worth taking.
Thomas Spurlin, Staff Reviewer -- DVDTalk Reviews | Personal Blog/Site
Antoine (Jean Rochefort), our lead character in The Hairdresser's Husband (Le Mari de la Coiffeuse), has a fetish for large-breasted women that want to take his money and cut off his hair. Taken in the wrong context, some might see that as a phobia instead of a desire. Instead, I think you'd find that many more guys share a similar fondness to Antoine's situation, a desire built from a young boy's perversely entrancing summer filled with repeat visits to a female-owned barber shop. It's that rousing hunger, an acute sense of eroticism, that gives The Hairdresser's Husband both its undeniable provocativeness and its moments of insightful charm. We follow Antoine (Jean Rochefort), now a grown man, as he reflects back on his childhood, interconnecting his budding desire with the decisions that led him to this point. What started as a fetish quickly became his identifier; some are heterosexual and some are homosexual, but Antoine is a feminine barber-sexual, desiring nothing more from his life than to find a beautiful hairdresser to share his life with. His search remained unsuccessful until he stumbled upon Mathilde (Anna Galiena), the sole proprietor of a little men-only salon located on a quaint French street. With his subtly quirky charm fueling his leap of faith, he and Mathilde begin a deep and sensual relationship that separates them from the rest of the world.
Since we're allowed to see that Antoine and Mathilde are romantically involved at the beginning of the story, The Hairdresser's Husband becomes a lighthearted and self-cautious reflection on the events from both Antoine's past and the present. He shows us how his passion led him to Mathilde's loving arms, viscerally taking us through the process of how the massaging fingertips of the hairdresser from his youth ignite the eroticism present in his hunt. He scoops up tidbits from his relationship with his family and drops them in front of us, letting us see how Antoine became the man that wanted nothing more than to live out his days with a woman like Mathilde. Composed in sepia-stained flashes, a sense of nostalgia fills every frame of the film that gives it a texture similar to a concentrated stream of consciousness from Antoine's memory.
The Hairdresser's Husband wears its manner as a modern European arthouse film with a lot of confidence, but in a soft and palatable way. From its conversational center that focuses on the pensiveness of the speakers instead of the content, to the lackadaisical demeanor that aims to titillate with a distinctively lush passion instead of dazzle with its conflicts, it's at times a little too walled-off from convention. While watching, I couldn't quite shrug off the feeling that Patrice Leconte knew he was making an artsy picture -- and wanted to boost up this quality as much as he could. It works in many marvelous scenes, such as a wonderful point where Antoine and Mathilde ransack their salon for something "unique" to drink in the wee hours of the morning. Others seem pressed into stretching out their content into a piece of art, like an artist trying to pull a length of resilient canvas to the corners of a wooden frame.
 |  |
Its memory-esque cinematography and vastly likable characters manage to surmount this forgivable self-indulgence and give The Hairdresser's Husband a playfully indulgent aura. This is Antoine's story, and it takes a great amount of bittersweet joy in telling it. Highlighted by a fine pairing of old and young actors to portray Antoine, namely a concentrated turn from Jean Rochefort with a splash of quirk, it's near impossible not to empathize with either the quirky character or the objects of his (their) affection. Mathilde's charm, however, is the real allure to its passion. Anna Galiena gives a succulent and understated performance as the hairdresser, one that speaks volumes in saying very little. She'd likely be the toast among the men in town, transforming them all into Antoine-like fawners, if it weren't for her husband's hovering presence -- one that she shares no disappointment in having so close to her.
As each scene is photographed amid sun-drenched settings unquestionably filled with stirring warmth, it's easy to get wrapped up in the easygoing zeal behind their relationship. It takes on an aesthetic feel similar to the coffee shop in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amelie, one where the strangers that come and go make impressions on Antoine and Mathilde's life without ever digging deeper than surface level into the narrative. Since its several years Amelie's senior, it's likely that Jeunet may have pulled some influence from its execution while injecting more of his quirky sense of humor to the mix. They both speak to the cosmos of love, but in different ways -- Amelie to the unavoidable gravity between two souls, The Hairdresser's Husband to the inability to stray once they've found it.
There's a stark sense of eroticism and passion that heaves at the center of The Hairdresser's Husband, one that intermittently takes the breath away. Happiness, sexual satisfaction, and experimentation become driving factors in Antoine and Mathilde's life, though it spares us the graphic details and only gives us shots of their heartfelt, starry-eyed foreplay. And it's funny -- almost the opposite of dry humor, though that same stiff compulsion to laugh is there. But it's not out to make us laugh. Like Antoine's goofy dancing that he does to entertain a boy in Mathilde's salon, it simply brings a smile to our faces without trying to do more beyond its delightful means.
Even as it takes a somewhat foreseeable turn towards bleakness, there's still a sense of delight in its unswerving desire to embrace life to the fullest. The Hairdresser's Husband is simply a pleasurable time in the world of arthouse cinema, one that relishes in opening a window into a different style of romance that, though it might differ from our own, showcases a "dream come true" in Antoine's eyes. More than that, it takes a step back and allows us to absorb the things they enjoy, things that we might take for granted in our own domestic lives. Though bittersweet and highly docile, Patrice Leconte's picture is a satisfying endeavor of the heart.
The DVD:
 |  |
Video and Audio:
Severin brings The Hairdresser's Husband overseas to Region One in an anamorphic widescreen presentation, preserving the 2.35:1 framing of its original theatrical distribution. Naturally, the color timing leans closer to a dusty, drab palette, a move that heightens the dreamy texture of the film. It's slightly hazy and grows a little weak in its coloring, but there's still a healthy level of detail to be made out in the salon sequences. Though there's a fair level of grain, most of it appears to the film-based and, for the most part, doesn't encroach on facial detail or clothing textures. Also impressive is the disc's handling of contrast during darker sequences, rendering plenty of inky blacks and workable mid-range tones through nighttime sequences (primarily Antoine and Mathilde's little raucous. Pleasant and accurately framed, Severin's disc showcases the material to a nice degree.
The Hairdresser's Husband's Dolby 2.0 Stereo track sounds fairly strong, considering its limitations. Vocal strength and musical accompaniment both pour out robust enough, though the music seems mixed a little louder than it probably should be. The graceful snips of a pair of metal scissors fill the speakers with nice delicateness, clipping through the sound of Antoine's jukebox with a graceful quality during his enchanting little dance for the boy getting his haircut. It's an unobtrusive, serviceable track that does the job that it needs to do with the film -- without anything all that exciting. Though the subtitles are of a very strong quality, they're only available in English -- and burned it, for that matter.
Special Features:
Leconte on Leconte: Part 1 (36:14, 16x9):
Focusing completely on the director, this featurette takes us deep into the construction of The Hairdresser's Husband. He discusses themes, his actors, and film as a medium in itself. Leconte's a very insightful director, one that obviously deeply appreciates his own work -- and enjoys sharing his affection with his audience. His interviewed is accompanied by yellow, burned-in subtitles.
The Hairdresser's Recollections (17:41, 16x9)
Anna Galienda reflects on her time working on The Hairdresser's Husband in, as she says her self, romantic fashion. It's a solid block of interview time with the actress where she discusses being cast in the film and the process of working with Leconte and Jean Rochefort. She's an enchanting woman, both to the eyes and to the ears, and her gleeful insight is a greatly pleasing listen. She speaks in English, while no subtitles are available to pair with the material.
Also included is an anamorphic Theatrical Trailer which, by design, is by far the most obvious example of a "teaser" trailer that I think I've ever seen.
Final Thoughts:
Modest in design yet radiant to a fault, The Hairdresser's Husband captures the profound excitement that a man shares for voluptuous women with shears and turns it into a touching tale of unswerving love. Rochefort gives us a heartwarming hero with Antoine, but Anna Galiena's subtle sultriness almost works as the flame that lights the entire picture's rather warm disposition. It carries a very strong Recommendation, as returning to its charms will grow better with each time we're able to see Antoine's happy-go-lucky dance. Though it borders along the lines of being "too" much like an arthouse film, it's still a supple cinematic experience well worth taking.
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