Pauline & Paulette

This 78-minute-long Belgian drama seems at first like a slight confection. By the time the movie is through, however, you realize that the simplicity of the story and its characters have taken root in your mental landscape and will assume a lingering presence. Pauline & Paulette tells the story of four elderly sisters. Pauline (van der Groen) is mentally handicapped and lives in provincial Belgium with her sister Martha (De Bruyn), who caters to Pauline's needs and expects little from her in return. Pauline derives extreme delight from flowers and has a particular attraction to her sister Paulette (Petersen), a colorful woman who runs a fabric store in town and wraps up her patrons' packages with bright paper adorned with vibrant red roses. Paulette has little patience with her sister and usually shoos her away from her store and customers. Problems arise when sister Martha dies suddenly and stipulates in her will that all her worldly possessions should be split evenly among her three remaining sisters provided that one of them takes in Pauline and cares for her. However, neither Paulette nor her younger sister Cecile (Bergmans), who lives in Brussels with her French boyfriend, want to take in their simple-minded sister. Both agree that Pauline should be institutionalized. But, gradually, subtle things occur that make Paulette realize that no one will ever love you like your sisters do. Pauline & Paulette unites for the first time on film two of Belgium's leading actresses – van der Groen and Petersen – and they shape extremely vivid characters with the slightest of ingredients. Writer-director Debrauwer makes his feature-length filmmaking debut here, and while his work is seductively simple it must be said that Pauline & Paulette seems structurally more akin to a film short – the format in which Debrauwer has worked up until now. Pauline & Paulette at times dances dangerously close to that unfortunate modern narrative affectation that has mentally handicapped, physically disabled, or mortally ill characters teach otherwise healthy characters the “real truth” about life and its purpose. Yet, the movie's instincts are so succinct and unforced that you trust that its characters have all reached their moments of truth in their own stead. Pauline & Paulette is a small-scale pleasure, a movie that truly stops and smells the roses.