Le goût des autres (2000)

Agnès Jaoui's film The taste of others is a relatively conventional psychological relationship drama that by connecting a bunch of stories about middle aged people attempts to drum the alienation of modern man into our heads. But this film has one character, a businessman, that is hard not to suffer with. His name is Castella and he falls in love with his personal English teacher, who is an actor. Castella is completely out of step with what is considered to be high culture. He does not seem to understand what is embarrassing and what is not. He is a mess, but somehow he is also a person that undergoes important changes. But beyond this character, this movie is not very interesting, even though the themes of it (self-understanding & understanding others, change) are promising. It's very, very French.