BLIND DATE

In a modern world of online dating, how often can one find themselves talking to someone they have only seen a couple of pictures of? Or even forming relationships over continents with someone they have never seen? All too often is probably the answer, but what if the person you were talking to was an (unfortunately) non-soundproofed wall away?

Machine (whosit/whatsit) is a classical pianist breaking away from an ambiguously oppressive piano tutor, moving into a relatively crappy apartment in Paris - thankfully it has enough room for her baby grand piano! Machin (whosit/whatsit) is a reclusive eccentric game inventor who enjoys peace and quiet while he works (which is always). What a conundrum they find themselves in! As always with close proximity and clashing personalities, they fall in love... But don't worry, definitely not a spoiler, it's super obvious.

Conspicuousness aside, what's great about this film is the implied back stories. Nothing is overly explained, but you know that both of these characters have come from a place of emotional pain and oppression, and in finding each other are released from that. It might be a credit to French cinema that these parts of their lives don't need explanation, just briefly mentioned to add some wonderfully subtle depth.

This subtlety doesn't really translate to the rest of the film; while very sweet, it follows a very formulaic romantic comedy - albeit a beautifully quirky one. The performances are all strong and the direction and writing is a little heavy-handed at times. Especially a certain orgasmic Chopin scene. Oh boy.

This is definitely a date night choice for this year's Alliance Française French Film Festival with enough quirk, charm and heart to keep everyone who sees it happy until the very end. Who doesn't love an uplifting rom-com?

To celebrate this year's Alliance Française French Film Festival 2016, we're giving you the chance to win a double pass.

To win one of ten double passes, just make sure you follow both steps:

Competition opens at 6:00pm AEDT on Wednesday 24th February 2016 and closes at 11:59 pm AEDT on Tuesday 1st March 2016. Ten winners will be chosen at random on Wednesday 2nd March 2016. To successfully win, entrants must fulfil the above entry conditions before the time the competition closes. Current members/followers are eligible to enter the competition. Only one entry per person. Only one winner per household. To be a valid winner, the entrant must not have won a prize from SWITCH within the last 28 days. Each winner will receive one double pass to the Alliance Française French Film Festival 2016. By entering, you agree to receive occasional emails from SWITCH in the future. If you decide to unsubscribe from these updates, any further entries will not be applicable. Only Australian residents are eligible to enter.