French film “Home” starts with a happy family playing hockey on a strip of tarmac. This slowly reveals itself to be a motorway (Autoroute), and their house is right next to it. So we have house, motorway, idyllic field. Happy family. THEN, the motorway is opened. Noise gets to be too much. Motorway is dangerous and seems to be polluting. Its all very strange. But that’s OK because we are never supposed to think of this as real, teh motorway is a METAPHOR.
Problem is its unclear what the motorway is a metaphor for. There are disappointing moments when it could be standing in for THE WORLD, or INDUSTRIALISATION, or THE MOTOR INDUSTRY, or PROGRESS. There si a bit when you think this is just one big eco-fable. But then the family brick themselves into the house, go nuts and almost die.
Truth is, I don’t think the writer and director really know what the motorway is a metaphor for. That turns out to be the saving grace for Home (that and a really naturalistic turn from Isabelle Hupert). Its an odd film, real enough with one glaring odd plot dimension. Which must be a metaphor. I think they just put it in without thinking!