A quiet study about friendship, family and shared histories, The Midwife is a subtle vehicle for two superb performances from Catherine Frot and Catherine Deneuve.
Frot is the midwife of the title, a lonely 50 year-old facing the closure of the clinic and her son moving out of home. And then, out-of-the-blue, she receives a phone call from the glamorous Beatrice Sobolevski, her father’s former mistress.
Nothing much happens over the next 120 minutes but we experience a rare chemistry as the uptight Frot comes to understand the motivations of the hard-drinking, heavy-smoking older woman having suddenly abandoned her father more than 30 years previously.
Rating: 61%
Director: Martin Provost (Violette, Seraphine)
Writer: Martin Provost (Violette, Seraphine)
Main cast: Catherine Frot (Marguerite, The Page Turner), Catherine Deneuve (Belle de jour, Indochine), Olivier Gourmet (Monsieur Chocolat, The Kid With a Bike)
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