AUGUSTIN is a slice-of-life portrait of a social misfit. This entertaining but slight film showcases the comic talents of Jean-Chretien Sibertin-Blanc, who is in his element as the amusing title character.
Augustin Dos Santos is a stuttering, bumbling, and hyperactive guy, but people seem to embrace his good-hearted and warm nature. He works part time at an insurance company, but his aim is to be an actor. He visits a casting agent who tells him about the role of a hotel room service man in a new
film.
Augustin takes all of his work very seriously, and after a productive morning at the office, he convinces a fancy hotel to let him spend one day as a temporary employee, researching for the movie role. He brings breakfast to an English guest, and trails a chambermaid as she prepares a room. He
becomes enamored of her, but she declines his offer of a date.
He auditions for the movie role. Despite his misplaced seriousness and obsession with insignificant details, his nervous nature gives the part the comic edge the director wants. Augustin is offered the role, but because the day of filming conflicts with another obligation, he turns it down.
Instead, he spends the day shooting a public service commercial for rabbit innoculations.
AUGUSTIN, a surprise audience favorite at several 1995 film festivals, including Cannes and New York, is unconventional in many ways. It is 61 minutes long, contains only two experienced actors, and rambles along with no real plot. The style suits the subject matter, as AUGUSTIN is a character
sketch rather than a story. The film's humor comes from the protagonist's unique personality, and the overreaching literalness that makes him miss many of the realities of the world around him.
The film is entertaining, but not without flaws. While some scenes are quite funny, others merely ramble. During the rabbit commercial, for example, Augustin cannot stop laughing--inconsistent behavior for someone who previously played a comic role as if it were totally serious. The brevity works
in the film's favor, allowing the meandering "plot" to be simply a comic vehicle for the main character.
Not surprisingly, Sibertin-Blanc is perfect in this role, since his sister Anne Fontaine, the film's director, tailor-made the part for his talents. Though the structure of the film is scripted, most of the dialogue is improvised. This, and the use of nonprofessional actors playing themselves,
gives the film a natural, unpredictable feeling.(Profanity.) leave a comment