After Radin!, For Elle and the two thrillers A Bout Porter and Mea Culpa, Fred Cavayé is back, in another register. With Le Jeu, he is inspired by The First Name or Carnage, to offer a dramatic, sadistic and hilarious closed eight carried by a motley cast of the first order: Bérénice Bejo, Suzanne Clément, Stéphane de Groodt, Vincent Elbaz, Grégory Gadebois, Doria Tillier and Roschdy Zem.
A unique and very intelligent concept
The whole film is based on this, on this simple yet brilliant idea. A concept that would put many individuals in an unpleasant situation and that proves how Man is the slave of his smartphone. At a dinner with friends, everyone must leave their phone on the table prominently. When it rings, whether it's an email, a text message or a call, the owner must read aloud or turn on the speaker for everyone to hear. In short, intimacy is broken, for better and especially for worse.
The Game is constantly reminiscent of The First Name where this band of friends will tear each other apart, fight over the name chosen by Patrick Bruel. A wealthy class, long-time friends, who, nevertheless, retain a latent hypocrisy, false pretenses, and some shabby betrayals. As in the film by Alexandre de la Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte, we sometimes wonder if these friends really are, and if they are not just another societal façade. Anyway Fred Cavayé puts in difficulty this affluent social class, in front of its problems of the rich and its secrets of teenagers.
An interesting reflection on the condition of Western Man
None of the characters really have a problem. Everyone has their own tidy, easy life, without real danger. However, Man has this unfortunate tendency to be attracted by self-destruction. The Game demonstrates how a perfectly healthy human being, in a pleasant situation, can put everything in the air by simplistic impulse, for sex, desire, or weariness. These characters, perfectly written, represent the generation of the 1960s and 1970s in all its beauty. The forty-year-olds and fifties will necessarily recognize themselves in this troupe as the actors are like fish in water. Adults tired of their repetitive life who seek to spice it up via external elements, preferring to flee the problems of couple, rather than try to repair the broken pots. The Game focuses only on this aspect of couple, abandoning the rest, focusing on adultery, betrayal, which should not put everyone very comfortable. In short, Fred Cavayé has a brilliant idea to demonstrate how the human being invents problems, but especially how he is unable to remain stable in a pleasant situation.
The Game is obviously gaining momentum to replace the frank comedy with the family drama like Roman Polanski's Carnage. Everything is perfectly dosed, the rhythm is crescendo, and the reversals of situations hilarious and well thought out (such as the exchange of mobile phone, or the jokes of Stéphane de Groodt's character). The actors are precise, and the staging obviously theatrical thanks to this closed-door approach. Finally, it is Marie (Bérénice Bejo) and Vincent (Stéphane de Groodt), the hosts of the evening, the most touching. Vincent is initially ambiguous and remains the character we distrust, his wife is suspicious of, but over the course of the film, their relationship will become clearer and prove that a united couple is possible despite the difficulties.
Black Mirror comedy version
The Game is also an opportunity to show how Man is a slave to his mobile phone. The feature film demonstrates how this small device has a hold on its owner. Whether it is a material grip, since everyone has it constantly on either, that they are more and more expensive devices, almost luxuries. But also a psychological grip, since from now on, mobile phones are an important element of our intimacy. This also highlights an interesting paradox since if these devices are an integral part of our private lives, they remain easy ways to disclose all this intimacy to the rest of the world. Security is to be reviewed and The Game also highlights this: how Men can go crazy when the secrets of their mobile phones are leaked. The human being is put in real slavery in front of these products and Ben, played by Grégory Gadebois, never ceases to remind us. The phone is the weapon of this film, and demonstrates how it can be the instigator of the worst secrets. Anyway Fred Cavayé has shown that this game is a bad idea…
The Game is a very intelligent dramatic comedy that demonstrates how the human being is the slave of his smatphone in a playful and always very funny way. The Game recalls the madness and verve of The Name or Carnage and reminds us that adults also have their demons, and can come out of their hinges. In theaters October 17.
