|||||| The Planet of Great Moviez ||||||||: Tatie Danielle (1990)

Monday, November 12, 2007

Tatie Danielle (1990)

You haven't met her but she hates you already
Tatie Danielle is a spoiled old lady who has become expert, after long years of study, at the art of imposing on other people. It is a welcome departure from the formula comedy-dramas focusing on the elderly members of our society. We're not dealing with another "Who will take care of Grandma" story, but are confronted with a real problem: This old lady is NOT the dear little Granny we know from story books. She isn't the type anyone would hate to ship off to a nursing home. She's the devil in disguise of a sweet old woman, who manipulates people around her to cause general unpleasantness.

Vous ne la connaissez pas encore mais elle vous déteste déjà

Tsilla Chelton gives a flawless performance as the cunning, scheming, mischievous old widow Auntie Danielle, She commands our attention in every scene and she is on the screen most of the time. Her aged housekeeper companion Odile is driven frantic by this cantankerous old shrew who insists she completes the most impossible and dangerous tasks such as cleaning the chandeliers. Her nephew and niece move in to look after her in her supposedly frail state of health and she makes life absolute hell for them, too. She has a framed photograph of her late husband Edouard hanging on the wall and she consults him on all her personal matters. I found these conversations highly amusing. The most entertaining part of the movie is when the relatives take off for Greece leaving Auntie Danielle under the care of a young woman employed to look after her. Sparks fly when these two obstinate individuals come face to face neither giving way to the other, The bed-wetting scene is quite a gem, but there are many other incidents which are equally amusing. The ending of the film in the Alps comes somewhat as a surprise as we see a complete transformation of Auntie.