My Friend Victoria

My Friend Victoria (French: Mon amie Victoria) is a French/Belgian film, directed by Jean-Paul Civeyrac, released in December 2014. It stars Guslagie Malanda, Nadia Moussa, Catherine Mouchet, Pascal Greggory and Pierre Andrau.

My Friend Victoria
Directed byJean-Paul Civeyrac
Written byJean-Paul Civeyrac
Based onVictoria and the Staveneys from Doris Lessing's The Grandmothers
Produced byPhilippe Martin
Jacques-Henri Bronckart
Olivier Bronckart
StarringGuslagie Malanda
Nadia Moussa
Catherine Mouchet
Pascal Greggory
Edited byLouise Narboni
Release dates
  • 9 October 2014 (2014-10-09) (Festival du Film Francophone de Namur)
  • 31 December 2014 (2014-12-31)
Running time
95 minutes
CountriesFrance
Belgium
LanguageFrench

Civeyrac adapted the film from Victoria and the Staveneys, a story by Doris Lessing.[1][2]

Plot

Victoria, a black girl from a modest background, has never forgotten the night she spent at the house of a bourgeois family in Paris, at the home of Thomas, a school-friend who had once brought her back with him. Years later, their paths re-cross. From a brief liaison, a daughter, Marie, is born. But Victoria leaves it another seven years before revealing the child's existence to Thomas and his family. They suggest she bring the child regularly to their home. Bit by bit, Victoria measures the consequences of this.

Development

Doris Lessing's Victoria and the Staveneys was first published in her collection The Grandmothers (2003). Writer and director Jean-Paul Civeyrac changed the setting of Lessing's story from London to Paris.[3][4]

Guslagie Malanda had no film experience before she was cast in the title role; she went to an audition after a friend working on the project told her that she "might be a good fit".[5]

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 60% based on 5 reviews, with an average rating of 5/10.[6] A reviewer for The Hollywood Reporter called it "a touching if not quite gripping portrait of race and family – this well-acted and intimate affair lacks the narrative drive to push it far beyond French borders, but it's worth a look".[7] A Slant Magazine critic found the film's treatment of racism to be sincere but shallow.[8]

References
  1. "Mon amie Victoria". Les films du losange. Archived from the original on 29 December 2014.
  2. Lemercier, Fabien (16 August 2013). "Mon Amie Victoria: Jean-Paul Civeyrac adapts Doris Lessing". cineuropa.org. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  3. Mintzer, Jordan (6 January 2015). "'My Friend Victoria' ('Mon Amie Victoria'): Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  4. Catsoulis, Jeannette (3 December 2015). "Review: An Exploration of Race and Class in 'My Friend Victoria'". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  5. Brzeski, Patrick (16 November 2022). "'Saint Omer' Star Guslagie Malanda Says 'Being an Actress Was Always in My Gut'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  6. "My Friend Victoria". Rotten Tomatoes.
  7. Mintzer, Jordan (6 January 2015). "'My Friend Victoria' ('Mon Amie Victoria'): Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  8. Dillard, Clayton (30 November 2015). "Review: My Friend Victoria". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 1 March 2023.


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