A number of Leconte's movies have similar themes: suicide (or the thought of it) is quite common, occurring in Le Parfum d'Yvonne, La Fille sur le pont (twice, and although unsuccessful we could argue that the same theme is in itself suicidal); and twice, for instance, in Le Mari de la coiffeuse; ageing is seen as negative, as with the 'old queen' in Le Parfum d'Yvonne, who can't stand the Aznavour song 'Sa jeunesse' reminding him of his age, and Mathilde (Anna Galiena) is concerned about (among other things) an elderly passerby growing older each time she sees him. In Le Mari de la coiffeuse death is ever-present, Antoine being asked by a customer his opinion, to which he replies: 'Death is yellow and smells of vanilla.' 'Are you sure about that asks the customer?' 'I'm taking bets' Antoine confidently replies. All very weird, almost surreal.
Perhaps above all Le Mari de la coiffeuse involves dreams we had in childhood and of how some (particularly Antoine (Jean Rochefort here)) wish to carry them well into late adulthood. Antoine as a child is highly attracted to hairdressers, particularly the buxom one who cuts his hair and he luxuriates in her smells and glimpses of her breast. When his father asks him what he wants to be when he grows, Antoine says the husband of a hairdresser: for that he gets a slapped face from his father, who nonetheless is mystified by his own violence. And then, well into his fifties, Antoine finds a considerably younger hairdresser who too falls in love with him at first sight, they get married, and live very happily, Antoine indulging in his voyeuristic penchant.
But how much of this is reality, and how much fantasy, the imaginings of an ageing Antoine who's never grown up, is wide open to question.
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