Bird People
(2014 Beirut International Film Festival review)

They don’t know each other, they come from different countries, but for a few days their dilemmas will be awfully similar. How they go about navigating out of their troubles, however, will also be quite different.
Bird People is the latest from director and co-writer Pascale Ferran, whose previous film was the 2006 adaptation Lady Chatterley. Her new movie is a diptych, the first half devoted to one character, the second half turning its attention to another, both of whom are spending time at a hotel near Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. This understated, thoughtful drama actually boasts a rather audacious twist, although one wishes it had been executed a little more satisfyingly. Despite its wistful, occasionally elegant spirit, Bird People ends up feeling a little too fragile, its ideas too delicate to stand up to close scrutiny. As a movie, it’s a gentle breeze that never quite knocks us over.
At first, Bird People directs our attention to Gary (Josh Charles), an executive from a Bay Area tech company who’s just arrived in Paris to close a deal. The meeting goes well, but when Gary returns to his hotel, he begins inexplicably to feel panicked, unable to sleep that night. Short of breath, desperate for a cigarette, the man impulsively makes a decision: he’s not going to catch his flight to his next business trip. Instead, he’s walking away from the company. In fact, he’s walking away from everything, including his children and wife (Radha Mitchell).
Gary isn’t the only person longing for escape. A young maid at the hotel, Audrey Camuzet (Anaïs Demoustier), feels at a crossroads, unsure what she wants to do with her life. Inquisitive and meek, Audrey observes all around her, almost like the unseen angels monitoring human activity in Wings of Desire. Her eventual strategy to switch up her reality turns out to be far more radical than Gary’s, which would seem nearly impossible considering that he essentially decides to ditch everything and everyone he’s known.