Things aren’t so great for Lena (Chiara Mastroianni, daughter of big time French thesps Marcello Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve). Not only is she trying to recoup from her divorce and working on controlling her children, but her family seem to make every important decision that concerns her life. When she arrives with her children for a family get together at her parents’ farm house, they already have a job interview for her. They also take it upon themselves to invite her ex-husband to the social rendezvous, keeping it a secret until she catches him playing with the children. Not a favorable situation by any means, she escapes to the city alone, leaving her children behind. In what should be one of the most interesting and pivotal scenes of the film, her husband-in-law drives her to the train station until she orders him to pull over. On her own accord, Lena decides to go back to the house and deal with her problems instead of running away. Designed to be the first scene where we really connect with Lena and begin to feel the immense weight that her family and life have on her, not to mention her yearning to improve her life, the scene is so hasty and poorly concocted that we aren’t able to feel anything in the short amount of time it takes Lena to leave, decide to return, and returns. The one moment of connection with the protagonist is lost, and the consequential detachment affects “Making Plans for Lena” so negatively that the rest of the film feels like a pointless bore.
Director Christopher Honoré (“Dans Paris,” “Ma mere”) tries his hardest to have a tone and flow something along the lines of “Summer Hours” or “A Christmas Tale” (which featured this film’s titular character) for the family interactions, but there’s not one scene which is allowed to bloom properly. The film-maker seems too interested in whatever bickering comes next without stopping to focus on why the characters act the way they do. Scenes are badly paced: the characters get in and get out without any insight on what makes them tick or without pressing too hard on the kernel of a scene. Scenes of characters by themselves – which are few and far between – offer no insight and seem to be filler more than anything. While the actors aren’t bad by any means, it would certainly help if they had chemistry together. The previously mentioned “Summer Hours” was fantastic because it had a great cast which were able to nail down sibling interactions, rivalry, and love perfectly; it felt real. The characters here don’t seem to be pulling from anything, and its too apparent that they are actors that met on set and nothing more. When the film finally closes in on Lena, it becomes an even more demanding character piece, one that gives little insight and is too aloof. By the time tragedy strikes and the inevitable break down occurs, it’s too little too late.
Maybe the distancing of the audience would work if Honore had anything interesting to say. Lena’s an unfortunate character who has no control of her life, which both she and her family are responsible for, but there’s absolutely no sympathy to be found. Without an audience’s concern, the idea or themes expressed should be something intellectually stimulating, instead they’re completely empty. Even at its calmest moments, the film-maker can’t seem to unearth something original or unique about Lena’s situation. After the conclusion of the film, all that’s left is some vague statement against overbearing family interference and a simplistic criticism of people who focus more on blaming others for their misgivings rather than trying to steer their life in the right direction. The meanings are so shoddy and unsophisticated that it’s hard to believe Honoré had any interest in these things to begin with.
Despite all of its crash and burns, the movie tends to hit some good notes every now and then. The long and poetic story that Lena’s son tells is absolutely gorgeous, focusing on a small community in the 1800s with a quirky tale of a woman trying to choose a husband based on how well he dances. It’s a wonderful (and welcome) departure, doing away with dialogue and featuring only three lines of narration from the young character telling the tale. One can’t help but wonder why the same kind of aesthetic wasn’t applied to the main narrative, as the short seems done by a completely different person. A number of other small moments that seem poised to pull the film out of its creative but never deliver: the father breaking the fourth wall in the beginning of the film, the father and mother’s surprisingly touching relationship scenes, and the horror-film score that pops up occasionally. Brief moments of genius that, just like the rest of the film, don’t amount to anything. Flavorless and without a thing to say about about family, self control, or self destruction, “Making Plans for Lena” will try the patience even the most devoted Honoré fan. In the end, it’s just not worth it. [D+]
