Hunting and Gathering (2007)

Genre: Drama, Romance
Cast: Audrey Tatou, Guillame Canet, Laurent Stocker, Françoise Bertin
Director: Claude Berri

“Hunting and Gathering” is a French movie (by it's original name “Ensemble, c'est tout”) made after the famous novelist Anna Gavalda's book with the same name. Truth be told, the English name doesn't do much good to the movie, which is an epic tale of love and human nature, as the most closer translation would have been “Together, that is all”.

Anyway, word play aside, this movie, starring beautiful and fragile Audrey Tatou and Guillaume Canet, is wonderfully directed by Claude Berri which manages to transform Gavalda's 600 pages book into one hour and a half of close encounters with human emotions. The characters of the movie are a young vulnerable woman who is unable to commit to anyone, a short-tempered chef with good intentions and the inability to express his feelings and a charming aristocrat who only wishes to be left alone by his family. The trio unites under the auspicious surroundings triggered by Franck's (the chef) grandmother poor health which renders her unable to take care of herself. As a lovely, warm and intelligent person that she is, she is instantly liked by everybody (including viewers) who can not resist her. As such, Camille (Tatou) offers to take care of her, Philibert (Laurent Stocker) offers his apartment to the two women and Franck just has to accept that he will be living under the same roof with his grandmother and other two weirdos.

The story develops from here into twists and turns of fate and all the characters' feelings and emotions are revealed from the most subtle facial expressions and gestures. Although released almost two years ago, this movie is a must-see for romance lovers and it is quite appropriate for this summer's trend too, as it is a fresh, amusing and complex depiction of human values and intricacy.

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