The Parisian Bitch
by Rose Finlay

(Originally  “Harry Me – The Royal Bitch of Buckingham”) (Connasse, Princesse des Coeurs)
  Directors:  Eloise Lang, Noérnie Saglio - France

One day Camille (Camille Cottin) comes to the most important realization of her  life. She is not made for working and being distinctly middle class. No, she  clearly needs to be Royal and as she was not blessed by birth, she must marry  into it. When considering her European options she comes to the decision that  there is only one person who would fit the bill: Prince Harry of Wales. So she  leaves Paris and embarks for London, certain that she will be successful in her  quest.

The thing about The Parisian Bitch is that it is a documentary feature. This is a  nice way of saying that Camille Cottin is playing a character but is  interacting with the real world, a mockumentary if you will. So much of what  the audience gets to watch is candid, using hidden cameras and the like, to see  the genuine reactions of the average people who have to put up with the  obnoxious Camille. At times this works, but the majority of the time it just  comes off as silly and trite. The majority of the humor is supposed to stem  from the over-the-top walking French stereotype Camille coming up against  British stoicism, but this shtick gets old fast. Cottin has created a character  almost too annoying to be enjoyable and the reactions of the Brits just aren’t  dramatic or revealing enough to be truly funny. The whole film comes off  entirely too juvenile in its attempts at humor to really appeal, but perhaps this  is simply a matter of taste. If you enjoy other mockumentaries such as the work  of Sacha Baron Cohen, then maybe this is a perfect film for you. For people  with more discerning taste, it might be best to give this one a skip.