‘Coup de chance’ – Review

Writer/director Woody Allen returns to cinemas with his 50th feature film, Coup de chance, and the noted filmmaker changes things up as he moves away from his typical American setting in favour of Paris, the City of Lights, and it makes for an interesting dynamic of character and genre.

A young married woman runs into an old school friend and is immediately smitten. The two friends grow increasingly close, eventually leading to infidelity and even a crime.

It’s hard to look at Woody Allen’s skill as a filmmaker in light of the continued condemnation for his past behaviour and actions, but with his 50th feature film, Coup de chance, we get a narrative that almost feels like a great hits compilation and which draws upon his previous collected works. While Coup de chance is a story of romance, comedy, and with a dash of a thriller, it very much feels like a story that brings together the celebrated completed works, almost as if Allen is analysing his own work through a new location and flavour. In watching Coup de chance, you see elements of Annie Hall, Match Point, Midnight in Paris, Scoop, Stardust Memories and Manhattan, but all presented with a uniquely French flavour, and in my own mind, this feels like a film that is more about its flavour than direct narrative style.

However, praise must be given to the film’s trio of performers, Lou de Laâge, Melvil Poupaud and Niels Schneider, who bring their own European selves to the central characters of Fanny, Jean and Alain, and the narrative’s unique mix of genres gives them plenty of room to play with. Coup de chance is a film that entirely benefits from its supporting production crew, chiefly celebrated cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, and his unique vision and soft use of light magnifies the colours and performance of the cast and sweeps one up in the ambience of the film’s Parisian setting.

Coup de chance is a film that I believe will speak to those who adore Allen as a filmmaker, and it’s interesting to see his milieu and style placed in a new territory and language setting. While Allen has, of course, produced films in Europe before, Coup de chance feels like a uniquely French picture and elevates Allen’s style through a French frame. It’s a film that feels refreshing from the director but also has the air and style of something incredibly familiar, and with its intellectual subtext, will keep audiences engaged.

Image: Sharmill Films