In the beautiful South of France, Guillaume is a suicidal Frenchman. Vedrana is slowly dying in a loveless relationship. She is determined to make him love again, but his former fiancée shows up at his doorstep, pregnant with his child.
Guillaume (Guillaume Campanacci) breaks the fourth wall in the first scene of “Whenever I’m Alone with You” by intoning that “if you want to watch a romantic comedy, I’m sorry, or if you want to be spoonfed the plot because otherwise you wouldn’t understand the story, I’m sorry, or if you’re dumb, I’m sorry, or finally, if you’re American, then I’m really sorry.” Guillaume follows up by saying that, alternatively, if you’re a lover of the art or willing to take risks, don’t need to know everything, and are eager to feel, the film starts in ten seconds. The striking attitude pervades this independent production set in the South of France.
In typical European fashion, Guillaume smokes incessantly. In between puffs, he consumes all manner of alcoholic beverages with unabashed vigor, especially if they happen to be other people’s drinks. He also exhibits a particular penchant for mini-bottles of vodka, downing each one in seconds flat. These are his coping mechanisms in the wake of a broken engagement and botched suicide attempt.
At an upscale party, ambushed by two fawning women, Guillaume calmly remarks that he’s shooting a film with River Phoenix, Alan Rickman, David Bowie, Robin Williams, and Peter O’Toole. The women remain clueless to the sarcasm, nodding vacuously.
Guillaume first meets Vedrana (Vesper Egon) at the gathering. The two share a love of good books and a distaste for boring ones. They reference and ridicule other movies as the narrative steadfastly refuses to take itself too seriously. Meantime, the luscious landscapes and beautiful people make for appealing eye candy.
Behind the spoken dialog appearing periodically at the bottom of the screen, silent subtitles offer deeper insight into the interaction between Guillaume and Vedrana, always implied but never articulated. What seems like an aimless excursion through an aspiring alcoholic’s attempt to get over a failed relationship transitions into an exploration of life after a fashion.
Written and directed by Guillaume Campanacci, Vedrana Egon, and Vesper Egon, who also starred in “Whenever I’m Alone with You,” the film was shot in the South of France, in and around Nice. The story meanders along picturesque seascapes fronting the Mediterranean blended with centuries-old architecture, framed ever so sumptuously. With stylistic hints of documentary and music video formats, the production moves along smartly.
The voiceovers pop in and out of the action, sort of like splicing in the outtakes throughout the movie instead of at the end when the credits are rolling. “Whenever I’m Alone with You” surveys human relationships with unexpected, unpredictable, and often cryptic dialog. Like “Seinfeld,” it almost seems like a show about nothing. Nonetheless, the film wanders about amiably, displaying the steamy seduction between Guillaume and Vedrana with an agreeable flair.
“Whenever I’m Alone with You” is currently making the rounds in the Film Festival Circuit
