{"id":143297,"date":"2022-10-29T16:25:32","date_gmt":"2022-10-29T06:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/?p=143297"},"modified":"2022-10-29T16:25:32","modified_gmt":"2022-10-29T06:25:32","slug":"mrs-harris-goes-to-paris-movie-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/mrs-harris-goes-to-paris-movie-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Mrs Harris Goes to Paris – movie review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Writer-director Anthony Fabian takes his audience on a giddy trip around Paris and the would of haute couture in Mrs Harris Goes to Paris. Despite the fact the film is based on Paul Gallico\u2019s 1958 novel Mrs \u2019Arris Goes to Paris, its closest relative seems to be the recent Netflix series Emily in Paris<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The two productions share the same sense of Paris as a magical place where dreams come true. And while the French capital is magical in many ways, their rose-tinted views of it both rather cloying, and at odds with reality. Like Emily, Mrs Harris never sets foot outside the gilded heart of Paris; and even the trash in the street (the film takes place during a garbage workers\u2019 strike) seems to only add to its mythos.<\/p>\n

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The Mrs Harris of the title is Ada Harris (Lesley Manville), a cleaner living in London in the early 1950s. She works tirelessly but is still waiting for news of her husband Eddie, who went missing during WWII. One day while working for the rather dodgy Lady Dant (Anna Chancellor) she comes across a Dior dress in the wardrobe. Entranced, she sets her heart on getting one for herself. Her best friend Violet Butterfield (Ellen Thomas) is supportive, even though she doesn’t really see the point of such extravagance. Ada starts saving every penny she can. However, an ill-fated attempt at a windfall via charming local bookie Archie (Jason Isaacs) seems to set her back considerably – as does the news that Eddie has been confirmed dead. However, a series of lucky breaks fall Ada’s way, and soon she\u2019s on a plane to Paris.<\/p>\n

Her planning however hasn\u2019t been great and she ends up spending the night in a train station. The next day, she heads to the Dior headquarters on the Avenue Montaigne. She arrives just as a show for high-end clients is starting. Unaware she can\u2019t just stroll into Dior and buy a dress off the rack, Ada is initially refused entry. But the kindly Marquis de Chassagne (Lambert Wilson) invites her in as his guest. After the show, Ada picks the dress she wants and offers cash payment. This is music to the ears of Dior accountant Andr\u00e9 Fauvel (Lucas Bravo) who is struggling to keep the tradition-bound house afloat. His task is made more difficult by the snooty Mme Colbert (Isabelle Huppert) who clings to the old ways. But when Ada learns that a personalised fitting will take two weeks, she\u2019s crest-fallen since she hadn\u2019t planned on such a long stay. But Andre is able to offer her a place to stay, and Dior model Natasha (Alba Baptista) shows her the city. So it looks like Ada\u2019s dream will come true – but can it really be that easy?<\/p>\n

Fabian (who also assisted with the screenplay) stays fairly true to the plot of the book, but imbues the film with a fairytale quality in preference to the novel\u2019s overt comedy. That turns out to be the film’s greatest strength or fatal weakness, depending on your point of view. Those who can swallow the film\u2019s artifice will probably have a better time with it than I did. I found the fact that most characters turn out to have a heart of gold (no matter how awful they\u2019ve been previously) a bit hard to swallow. Two partic ularly odious characters get their comeuppances at the end, but it seems almost an afterthought. Fabian also wades through quite a lot of treacle to get to the tear-inducing finale.<\/p>\n