Review of In the Courtyard (2014) by Jan V — 14 May 2015

In short: Very commendable showcasing of a micro-cosmos living around a Parisian courtyard, with some peculiar but endearing inhabitants.

I saw this film at the Berlinale film festival 2014. It was the international premiere in a venue with more than 1,500 booked seats, in presence of film makers and main actors. There was no Q&A afterwards.

I'm not sure why I liked this one much more than "A Long Way Down" (Chaumeil, 2014) that I saw earlier in the same week, in spite of many traits they have in common. Both films are mere entertainment, casting well known actors which will attract many viewers regardless of its contents, neither has an express intention to carry a message or a morale, both will trigger several laughs, and have more than sufficient unexpected turns of events. I assume that the courtyard film had a definite advantage in its diversity and strangeness of the main characters living in the large house, in fact in a micro cosmos, yet not too far fetched and not too artificial, all that working to keep us interested throughout its running time. It has no useful purpose to summarize the plot here. The story line is very easy to follow, the characters are properly introduced and one gets ample chance to get to know them better.