The opening credits of Souvenir are superimposed over floating bubbles. That feels apt as this is a very light and frothy film which is a complete change of pace for its star, Isabelle Huppert, after her recent films like Elle and Things to Come.
She plays Lillian, a factory worker, living in obscurity. None of her co-workers realise that she used to have a career as a singer and was once the runner-up in The European Film Contest. That is clearly meant to be Eurovision, as mention is made of being a runner-up to Abba but there must have been rights issues for writer / director Bavo Defume. However, when a young man, Jean (Kevin Azais) starts working at the factory he recognises and befriends her. They fall in love and Jean persuades Lillian to make a comeback.
It is thanks to the extraordinary Huppert that this film works at all. She is completely believable as the withdrawn factory worker and as the chanteuse. Although Jean is nearly 40 years her junior the relationship does not feel icky. But there are major problems with the character of Jean. His initial behaviour is a bit stalker-ish and he acts too much like a child in the relationship with his mother and in his reaction to Lillian achieving some success for her interest in him to be ultimately credible.
Even at only 90 minutes, this feels too stretched, padded with too many musical numbers whilst interesting subplots such as the hint that drinking may have caused Lillian’s career remain largely unexplored. Huppert’s performance, though, keeps it watchable.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10