First things first: Catherine Deneuve still looks fabulous. As Suzanne Pujol, the pampered wife of an umbrella factory owner, she is fresh-faced yet age-appropriate, glamorous yet down-to-earth. Gerard Depardieu, however, does not look fabulous. As her one-time lover and present political enemy, labor leader Maurice Babin, he still affects the shambling hang-dog look that was so charming in “The Return of Martin Guerre” and “Green Card,” but now he looks like he has swallowed a giant sea turtle and is queasily about to disgorge it on the dance floor. It’s a shame, too, because “Potiche” is a farcical feminist fable. Trophy-wife Suzanne takes the reins of the factory when her apoplectic husband has a rage attack that sends him to the hospital for three months, and she becomes empowered and free. But no matter how empowered Deneuve’s character may be, there is no way the actress would have been cast if, like Depardieu, she had inflated like a Thanksgiving day float. But no matter. Depardieu is a side show. The movie belongs to Deneuve, who sails through it with a brio that suits the broad comic tone of the film. Based on a play of the same name, it is set in 1977, with lovingly recreated costumes, home décor and, especially, hair styles — characters toss their carefully feathered locks as if they were auditioning for “Charlie’s Angels.” It’s the kind of movie where characters who see each other every day conveniently explain their whole life stories to each other in quick bits of dialogue to set the stage. Like this: Suzanne to her husband Robert (more or less): “Remember how you took over my father’s umbrella factory? It was my dowry, and you made me your trophy wife.” Suzanne to Maurice, when he comes to argue with her about a strike in the factory: “That’s not how you felt about me 30 years ago, when you came upon me, stranded with a flat tire, and we became lovers.” And so on. So that’s the setup. Depardieu, man of the workers, now an MP, has held a torch for the daughter of privilege all these years. When, newly in charge of the factory, she is thrust into negotiations with the strikers, he tries to coach her in strategy. But she shrugs him off. She dresses in her finest furs and pearls, greets the angry strikers as old friends, and improbably wins them all over. Within weeks her art-loving son is designing Kandinsky-themed umbrellas, her surly daughter is devising new business strategies, the workers are happy and business is booming. Then her husband comes home and hilarity ensues. Or is supposed to. It’s about then that the movie loses its rhythm and narrative confidence. Will Suzanne maintain her power and independence? Will Robert’s devious attempts to get his position back destroy Suzanne? To whom will his goofy red-headed secretary and former mistress, Nadége, throw her loyalty? The plot meanders here and there for a while, and the laughs turn into sentimental uplift a little too soon and for too long. But Deneuve sails along in her bouffant and sensible pumps. “Potiche” is playing at The Triplex in Great Barrington, MA, and Upstate Films in Rhinebeck, NY. It is rated R for being French in its attitudes about sex.
Latest News
Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
Provided
Fricke and Boehmer are not there to stock their shelves with the same products customers find at standard makeup retailers. They’re there to help customers find what works for them. That usually means asking customers about themselves and learning about their beauty habits, skin, style and the way they like to present themselves. Fricke and Boehmer believe it’s their job to help customers bring out the qualities that suit them and determine what works best for their look.
So much of the Peggy Mercury world is about emboldening people to become more creative, and possibly bolder, versions of themselves. Some of this comes through the store’s creative collaborations with artists, designers and stylists.
It’s part of an ethos that encourages them and their friends to use the shop as a kind of laboratory, trying out new creative experiments without knowing how they might turn out. Whether in fashion, painting, fiber arts or photography, the projects almost always turn out marvelously.
A line of sterling silver charms they sell started as a small project by their friend Nolan Percival. In the beginning, the pieces were for close friends and loved ones. But Boehmer and Fricke encouraged Percival to get a little more serious about the project and create a whole line for the store. Today, it’s one of their top-selling collections.
Classic styles, bold colors, and creative concerts make up the “Imaginary Concerts” line at Peggy Mercury.Provided
“Imaginary Concerts” has the duo taking their own advice.
The project started as a way for Boehmer to connect with his mother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Taking old concert shirts from his own collection, Boehmer and his mother began cutting out the graphics with the idea that they would make a quilt together. Unfortunately, she died before they could complete the project in 2025. The pieces, which were ready for production, were put on the back burner as Boehmer and Fricke dealt with their loss and the whirlwind of projects that never seemed to cease at Peggy Mercury.
But the harsh winter of 2026 presented an opportunity to take some time and focus on themselves. Part of that meant revisiting and redefining the concert T-shirt project. This time, instead of looking to the warmth and comfort of a quilt, they turned to another passion — fashion.
Taking a page from their own book, they wanted to create something that felt comfortable to them. They took two disparate loves — one rooted in simple preppy style, with clean lines and classic silhouettes, and the other in the nitty gritty worlds of punk rock and pop — and blended them together to create something entirely new. Pulling from the staples of vintage Brooks Brothers and Charvet collections, they applied the graphic elements with bold stitching reminiscent of punk jackets of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with a much more sophisticated air.
But the remixing isn’t just the pairing of prep and punk. The pieces are not canon. They take liberties with the realities of concert tours, combining one band’s dates with another band’s logos, mixing them all up until the reality is lost and imagination is the only truth.
Shirts from Peggy Mercury’s first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” hang on display.Provided
Adding to the mix is an element of perpetual creativity. Art can be messy, both figuratively and literally, and many of Fricke and Boehmer’s artist friends carry evidence of their work on them at all times. As a nod to these tireless creatives, the duo added haphazard splashes of bright color, giving the line an even more distinctive feel.
For them, “Imaginary Concerts” passes the “Peggy Test.” The mythical Peggy Mercury is a fictional figurehead for the company, a character who thrives on creativity and change. The name, much like the clothing line, is a mixture of interests: Mercury is a planet, a deity and an elusive, transformative element, while Peggy is the wonderfully stylish and boundary-pushing Peggy Guggenheim.
Everything Fricke and Boehmer put in their store has to pass this test: Would Peggy Mercury approve? For their first collection, the answer is a resounding yes.
Peggy Mercury is at 9 Maple St., Unit 2, Kent.
Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.
