Though compelling at times, André Téchiné’s fictionalized backstory to a sensational French media frenzy is finally too disjointed to warrant a recommendation. Emilie Duquenne (who was Rosetta for the Dardennes) is highly watchable as the young woman who fabricates an anti-Semitic attack by a gang of swarthy youths, even though her motivations are difficult to understand. Catherine Deneuve graces the screen -- as she has done for nearly half a century -- as the girl’s mother. Other characters intersect with their story, and the film wanders into their lives as well. Scene by scene, it works well, but in the end seems like bits and pieces rather than cumulatively forceful. The precipitating event (or non-event) is buried deep within the middle of the film, but the meanings circle around the periphery. Perhaps if one were French, the real story would be so well known as to make the film hold together in a way it doesn’t on its own. (2009, dvd.) *6* (MC-68)
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