Le Nom Des Gens (titled The Names of Love in English) is a 2010 French comedy film directed by Michel Leclerc. It follows the unlikely romantic relationship between uptight veterinarian Arthur Martin (Jacques Gamblin) and free-spirited left-wing activist Bahia Benmahmoud (Sara Forestier).
Le Nom Des Gens won the César awards for best actress (Forestier) and best original screenplay (Leclerc and Baya Kasmi).
Le Nom Des Gens contains examples of:
- Aerith and Bob: "Arthur Martin" is an extremely common name in France. "Bahia Benmahmoud" definitely isn't.
- All Issues Are Political Issues: Most of Arthur and Bahia's conversations concern politics in one way or another.
- Author Avatar: Arthur and Bahia are loosely based on screenwriters Michel Leclerc and Baya Kasmi, respectively.
- Babies Ever After: The film ends with Arthur and Bahia carrying their child in a stroller.
- Bourgeois Bohemian: Bahia's mother Céline comes from a wealthy background but is firmly socialist, as is Bahia.
- Break the Believer:
- Bahia, who in her own words "worships the left unconditionally," becomes extremely distressed when she finds out that her Algerian refugee father's citizenship was actually granted by a right-wing politician.Bahia: (sobs) It's horrible!
- Shortly after they meet for the first time, Arthur discovers Bahia crying in a voting booth. The reason? She's just had to vote for the center-right politician Jacques Chirac to keep his far-right opponent, Jean-Marie Le Pen, from winning the election.
- Bahia, who in her own words "worships the left unconditionally," becomes extremely distressed when she finds out that her Algerian refugee father's citizenship was actually granted by a right-wing politician.
- The Cameo: French politician Lionel Jospin, of whom Arthur is a big fan In-Universe.
- Dark and Troubled Past:
- Arthur's mother was orphaned when her Jewish parents, whom she seldom talks about in the present day, were killed in the Holocaust.
- As a child, Bahia was molested by her piano teacher.
- Ditzy Genius: Bahia, with heavy shades of Cloudcuckoolander and Genki Girl. She's very smart but extremely impulsive and scatterbrained, leading her to get into several embarrassing situations.
- Do You Want to Copulate?: Played with; for most of the men she meets, Bahia just assumes the answer is "yes" and asks if he wants do do it at her place or his.
- Emotions vs. Stoicism: Bahia and Arthur, respectively.
- Foil: Bahia and Arthur could hardly seem more different at a glance, but both are descended from a native French person and an immigrant from a disadvantaged background. The difference is that Bahia plays up her "other-ness," while Arthur downplays it.
- Intelligence Equals Isolation: Growing up, Arthur seems to have had very few friends, though he doesn't appear to have minded all that much.
- The Law of Power Proportionate to Effort: Bahia's main project is attempting to convert right-wingers to socialism by having sex with them. She argues that the more right-wing a given man is, the more times she has to sleep with him to get the job done.
- Lost in Translation: A Running Gag in the film sees other people poke fun at Arthur's name, as "Arthur Martin" is the name of a popular brand of household appliances in France. For French viewers, this adds an extra layer to Arthur's image as a boring Everyman; to international audiences the joke doesn't land in the same way.
- Maternity Crisis: Bahia gives birth just as the decidedly non-socialist Nicolas Sarkozy wins the 2007 French presidential election.
- Ms. Fanservice: Bahia constantly bounces between the innocent and shameless versions of this trope.
- Naked People Are Funny: Bahia is so scattered that at one point she literally forgets to put her clothes on after a shower and gets onto the Metro while completely naked aside from a pair of Doc Marten boots, only realizing her error when a middle-aged Muslim man does a double take after she sits down across from him. And since this is a French movie there are no scenery censors or modesty-preserving camera angles to speak of. Believe it or not, this is only the first of several full-frontal scenes Sara Forestier performs in the film.
- Only Sane Man: Arthur, although even he has distinct eccentricities.
- Prone to Tears: Bahia. Actually, she's prone to loudly displaying pretty much every emotion under the sun.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Arthur is the savvy guy and Bahia is the energetic girl.
- The Scream: Bahia lets out a massive one when she realizes she's accidentally voted for the right-wing candidate Nicolas Sarkozy over the socialist Ségolène Royal.
- Screwball Comedy: An updated and very French take on the genre.
- Sex–Face Turn: Bahia sleeps with right-wing leaders specifically to moderate their political views.
- Switching P.O.V.: Both Arthur and Bahia narrate sections of the movie.
- Talking to Themself: Arthur's teen self frequently pops up to give his present self advice.
- Uptight Loves Wild: Arthur and Bahia's dynamic is very much this.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Bahia genuinely means well, but tends to have an extremely idealistic, black and white view of politics (i.e. left = good, right = bad), even when Arthur advises her to take a more nuanced approach.Bahia: Politics is about ideas! The right's always been about money, nationalism and the law of the jungle. Right-wing voters support that. I don't care if they're nice to their dogs—which I very much doubt.
- You Can Leave Your Hat On: Inverted. The first time Arthur visits Bahia's apartment, he ends up dressing her, since Bahia (being Bahia) is already naked.
