Copacabana

Running time: 90 mins

The always brilliant Isabelle Huppert (The Piano Teacher, The School of Flesh) takes a comedic turn as a mother forced to abandon her carefree lifestyle to win back her daughter?s love.

With the realization that her own daughter (played by Huppert?s actual daughter, Lolita Chammah) is ashamed of her and refuses to invite her to the wedding, the rather Bohemian Babou sets out to gain her daughter?s respect and to prove her worth as a mother through a fresh start. Having never really held down a job, Babou?s transformation into time-share saleswoman fills the narrative with biting humor and becomes a brilliantly observed study of the cutthroat business of real estate.

Director Marc Fitoussi does a wonderful job capturing the tense mother/daughter relationship and the often painful experience of starting a dubious job. Combine that with Huppert?s ability to inject Babou with immediately recognizable characteristics, both endearing and tenuous, and Copacabana foregoes cynicism for an enormously delightful and charming story about familial bonding.

- Tamee Tanoor

Film sponsored by the Applied Materials Foundation.