It is not the relaxing, soothing movie one would like to see on a sultry summer night, it is certainly an odd movie, that however leaves some thought-provoking hints. It's the story of an eccentric family, living alongside an abandoned highway, whose life is completely turned upside down, when the highway is suddenly opened after 10 years, and traffic, pollution and intolerable noise start to undermine the physical and mental balance of each member. It's a movie that makes one reflect upon the oppressive condition of people living alongside trafficked roads, and it gets to convey this idea of oppression, only sometimes relieved by a jazz and classical soundtrack and by some scenes which prove funny (see the one with the refrigerator). There are however some unhealthy traits inside this family even before the opening of the highway, mainly concerning too much intimacy shared by its members, which I really did not understand and by the way found disturbing. The mother, too, very well interpreted by Isabelle Huppert (who is always at ease in roles such as this), seems to be incapable to face the world, and afraid of any contact with anything outside the house, and does seem completely mentally sane. The movie gets more and more claustrophobic and suffocating, until a kind of "liberating" finale, which is however open to interpretation. A quirky movie indeed, which reminded me how lucky I am to live in a quiet town, far from traffic and noise.
