Charles and Lucie

Whimsical but totally enjoyable romantic comedy from the impressive if erratic Kaplan (La Fiancée du Pirate, Néa). An elderly couple - a layabout junk merchant and a charlady - take a gamble on gaining fortune and happiness, and find themselves swindled; penniless and pursued by the law through the South of France, they are thrown back on their wits for survival, and finally find their menopausal dissatisfaction with one another replaced by a rebirth of love. Sounds sentimental? It is, but Kaplan's ironic humour, and almost surreal sense of absurdity in her outlandish sequence of narrative events, make for a delightfully off-beat and touching film.