REVIEW: DVD Release: Tatie Danielle

Film: Tatie Danielle
Release date: 1st August 2005
Certificate: 15
Running time: 112 mins
Director: Etienne Chatiliez
Starring: Andre Wilms, Isabelle Nanty, Neige Dolsky, Tsilla Chelton, Catherine Jacob
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Studio: C'est La Vie
Format: DVD
Country: France

Director Etienne Chatillez introduced Tatie Danielle theatrically back in 1991. One of France’s great black comedies is carried on the wicked shoulders of Tsilla Chelton. Chatillez directing Florence Quentin’s deliciously dark comedy can’t fail to deliver with an acting great at the helm, surely.

With quick wit, short temper, and great age, Tatie Danielle allows herself to do and say as she pleases. A great protagonist, but also the film’s monster. She’ll show them who’s boss - and who would argue with a little old lady?

Tatie Danielle (Chelton) is one sly battleaxe. An expert imposer, the story follows her journey as she changes the lives of the people she touches, of course by no means, for the best.

It opens in her imposing residence in Auxilles, where her feisty older housekeeper, Odile (Dolsky), is being run ragged and driven mad by Tatie Danielle’s manipulative nature. When Look Out, Danielle’s imposing dog, knocks Odile from her ladder, she falls to her death. Unperturbed, Danielle is swept to Paris by her doting great-nephew and his family. Her manipulation begins all over again, wetting the bed each morning with water, not eating, kicking the dog, or eating too much so she throws up.

The family realise their holiday in Greece means Danielle will have to be looked after, and so they advertise for a care worker. Danielle’s match is met in Sandrine (Nanty). Rivalling her bitterness and seeing through her schemes, Sandrine is raised in Danielle’s expectations, even after a slap in the face - they ditch the family’s dog and start to enjoy their time together. But a blazing row ends in Sandrine leaving, leaving Danielle alone, a mess, and eating dog food. The flat is set on fire, and after being rescued with hardly a scratch on her, Danielle is moved into a home, as wicked as ever.

After terrorising the nurses and her fellow residents, the reaction is mixed when it’s discovered she’s been kidnapped…


The real strength of this film is the handful of well-rounded, quirky characters. The screenplay delivers, but the idiosyncrasies of the talented cast makes the film an overall success. The tone is balanced between the dark, with Danielle poking a dead body with her walking stick; the absurd, where she swings her large grubby knickers over a changing screen; and the heartfelt - she has gossiping conversations with her deceased husband’s photo.

Tsilla Chelton takes the lead effortlessly, this legendary character carrying the film. Neige Dolsky as the jittery, put-upon housekeeper is a classic physically comedic role, but Nanty’s part as Sandrine is what brings real spark into it, even though this spark comes over an hour into the feature. Having created such a brilliant opponent to Danielle in Sandrine, it’s a wonder why writer Florence Quentin didn’t introduce her sooner.

For some, the family may take up too much screen time, as the pace sags when Chelton isn’t in the frame. That said, there are some great small roles lighting up scenes, in the awkward baker and his wife on the news, the bolshie nurses at the old people’s home, and Danielle’s great-nephew’s son, spending some time in mauve lycra.

All the right subjects are casually dismissed and mocked to award the film it’s dark comedy stripes - for example, retarded children, a middle aged woman’s moustache, death, bladder control, violence... Yet it feels the film has been short-changed. This could be due to the 15 certificate, but there was a lot more potential from these characters, if only the strongest ones had more time on screen.

Despite the dark elements of the story, the film says something about family - and politeness, especially. Tatie Danielle wastes no time in abusing her family’s kindness, but how far can she exploit this weakness? Pretty far, as it goes.

The early-90s design and feel of the movie isn’t detrimental to its entertainment value. It enhances it. The beauty salon looks tacky and backstreet, the flat feels uncomfortably modernised - even the food and the heavy makeup of the women all work to give this film an edgy charm.


Although both the darkness and the comedy of this film come from Chelton’s impeccable characterisation, and not enough from anywhere else, Etienne Chatillez proves he is one of France’s experts of black comedy - bringing this film to twisted life. VB