The Hairdresser's Husband

Le Mari de la coiffeuse

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Patrice Leconte
Produced by Thierry de Ganay
Written by Patrice Leconte and Claude Klotz
Starring Jean Rochefort and Anna Galiena
Music by Michael Nyman
Cinematography Eduardo Serra
Edited by Joëlle Hache
Distributed by AMLF
Release date
  • 3 October 1990 (1990-10-03)
Running time
82 minutes
Country France
Language French
Box office $2.7 million[1]

The Hairdresser's Husband (French: Le Mari de la coiffeuse), a 1990 French film written by Patrice Leconte and Claude Klotz, and directed by Leconte. Jean Rochefort stars as the title character. Anna Galiena co-stars.

It won Patrice Leconte the Prix Louis Delluc. In 1991 it was nominated for "Best Foreign-Language Film" in the British Academy Film Awards.

Synopsis

The film begins in a flashback from the titular character, Antoine. We are introduced to his fixation with female hairdressers which began at a young age. The film uses flashbacks throughout and there are frequent parallels drawn with the past. Though Antoine tells Mathilde that 'the past is dead', his life is evidence that on some level the past repeats itself. As a young boy he fantasised about a hairdresser who committed suicide and as a man in his 50s he begins an affair with a hairdresser which ends after ten years in her suicide. However there are differences, Mathilde commits suicide because she is so happy she is afraid of the happiness she has found with Antoine ending.

We are unsure what Antoine has done with his life; we know, however, that he has fulfilled his childhood ambition: to marry a haidresser. The reality proves to be every bit as wonderful as the fantasy and the two enjoy an enigmatic, enclosed and enchanting relationship. The final sequence shows Antoine, in the salon, dancing to Eastern music just as he has done throughout his life. His last line is the enigmatic comment that the hairdresser will return.

Cast

Reception

American film critic Roger Ebert added this to his "Great Movies" list on January 27, 2010.[2] The film was nominated for the Grand Prix of the Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics.

Home media

The Hairdresser's Husband was released on DVD by Umbrella Entertainment in April 2011. The DVD is compatible region code 4.[3]

Soundtrack

The Hairdresser's Husband
Soundtrack album by Michael Nyman
Released September 21, 1992
Genre Middle Eastern
Label Soundtrack Listeners Communications
Michael Nyman chronology
The Michael Nyman Songbook
(1992)The Michael Nyman Songbook1992
The Hairdresser's Husband
(1992)
The Essential Michael Nyman Band
(1992)The Essential Michael Nyman Band1992

The soundtrack [4] was composed by Michael Nyman and also contains a great deal of Middle Eastern popular music. It was first released as an album in Japan by Soundtrack Listeners Communications (SLC) September 21, 1992 and has subsequently been released elsewhere.

References

  1. http://www.jpbox-office.com/fichfilm.php?id=5327
  2. "The Hairdresser's Husband (1990)". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
  3. "Umbrella Entertainment". Umbrellaent.com.au. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  4. "Mari De La Coiffeuse, Le (1990)". Soundtrackcollector.com. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
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