Combien tu m'aimes?

"How Much Do You Love Me?" revolves around Monica Bellucci's character Daniela and the many different female roles she changes into and out of like so many pieces of clothing. She is definitely a whore and a seductress, but she may or may not also be a girlfriend, a wife, a mistress, an accomplice, and a scam artist. She is at times domineering but at others submissive and weak; at times jealously possessive but at others open and free; at times quiet and pensive but at others loud and raucous. It takes a while for all these different sides of Daniela to appear, but by the end of the film she is changing between them seemingly in the blink of an eye.

Few characters in the movie can resist falling for one or more sides of Daniela, and the audience too will fall in love with the performance Monica Bellucci gives in the role. It certainly helps that Monica has the beauty and the body to pull of the role, and she is not shy about sharing her voluptuous charms with the camera. In one scene she even instructs us on how she is able to seduce her target, and it is clear that Monica Bellucci knows how to use her considerable female attributes.

The other strong performance in "How Much Do You Love Me?" comes from legendary French actor Gerard Depardieu. Depardieu's character does not appear until the second half of the film, well after all the other main characters have been introduced, but Depardieu instantly captures the attention of the audience. He has played many different characters in his career, and in "How Much Do You Love Me?" he looks like he was born to play the role of an amoral gangster.

The main problem I had with "How Much Do You Love Me?" is that the action starts off slowly, and what is billed as a comedy feels like a depressive drama during the first third of the film. As it turns out it takes a while for director and writer Bertrand Blier to set the stage, and the action picks up considerably in the second two thirds of the film. "How Much Do You Love Me?" never turns into a slapstick farce; instead, it is ultimately a sophisticated adult comedy about the different roles women can assume. While being entertaining it also raises some interesting questions about just what the differences and boundaries are between those roles.

There's hardly a Monica Bellucci movie where the main storyline does not involve her incredibly seductive body.. it is just absolutely, totally impossible to ignore. She is a woman most any man (and lots of women) would find physically addictive. Whatever the scene you just cannot take your eyes off her.. what she says holds little interest, and it's not that she does a bad job acting.. it's just not the main reason she is on screen (you don't watch her films for the story). Partial or full nudity is the linchpin of her acting experience. She was amazing in this film ten years ago.. she is now at 50yo, still amazing today, and will be the same in another decade. It's almost as if women like her are somewhat immune to the aging process. "The world's biggest power is... the beauty of a woman"... and Monica is a nuclear weapon.

How Much Do You Love Me? examines that emotion called Love, or what it's perceived to be. Will you make pretend and move in with someone? Are you loving someone because of his riches? Or because of his huge wiener or her hot body? Is it purely lust or love? And how in the world do fugly people snag all the hot chicks too? Between money and love, which would you choose (and taking too long to decide doesn't earn you brownie points)? Like Pretty Woman, only with less candy fluff, how can someone fall in love with a whore? (Ok, so it might sound politically incorrect, but that's how the movie plays it out)

A regular joe, Francois, falls for a prostitute at a bar. Played by Monica Belluci, Daniela is the obsession of Francois, as he engages her services for 100,000 Euros to live with him for a month (she charges 150 Euros a night, so work out the math) until he runs out of cash. A balding man who just won the lottery of 4 million Euros and some, he sure knows how to pick up and select his women.

Soon after, Francois becomes the envy of everyone (so is Vincent Cassell, but I digress), as friends like his personal doctor advises him to go easy on his escapades because of his weak heart. But in this black comedy, unfortunate events befall upon those who try to keep the couple apart. It's a tad interesting too as the movie plays out the fantasies of these nay- sayers, as they too lust after Daniela in secret.

There's a twist to all the madness, and the final revelation will make you go "ahh!" as the scheme is unveiled to a whacked out near ending sequence (do I love that sexy dance move). However, as do most art movies go, the ending leaves much to be interpreted in many ways. The visuals are beautiful to look at, and no, I'm not just talking about Bellucci here, although I'd rather watch her in action than the other old babe Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct 2. Blended with a lot of jazz, it has a bluesy feel to it all, punctuating melancholic mood throughout as felt by the characters.

And it's the three key characters who keep the storyline interesting. A regular bloke buying his way to a woman's heart. A woman who whores because she wants to (and probably satisfying her insatiable appetite for sex), and her gangster husband Charly (Gerard Depardieu) who allows her to do what she wants to, as his interpretation of love is the clichéd "if you love her set her free. If she returns she's yours" belief. In the end, love is also about respect, and that's the lesson Charly needed to learn.

It's plenty talk about love, sex and even orgasms, and the highlight is probably the three way negotiation on the table as Francois and Charly haggle the price over Daniela. Can love be attached with a price? How much is it worth? The plenty of ah-peks in the audience will probably have an answer to this question, and no doubt, ensure this movie's longevity in local screens.

In Paris, after winning the lottery, the clerk François (Bernard Campan) goes to a bar in Pigalle and offers one hundred thousand Euros per month to the prostitute Daniela (Monica Bellucci) to live with him until the end of his money. François is a lonely man, with heart problems and Daniela stays with him for eight days. Then, she decides to come back to her man, the mobster Charly (Gérard Depardieu), but she misses François and returns to his place. But once a whore, always a whore.

The promising "Combien Tu m'Aimes?" is a great deception: having Monica Bellucci, Gérard Depardieu and Bernard Campan in the cast, and directed by Bertrand Blier, this "dramatic romantic comedy" has a weird development and a confused and disappointing open conclusion. I honestly did not understand the last quarter of this movie, which is simply awful. The screenplay wastes a good and original idea, and the character of Gérard Depardieu is absolutely dull and ridiculous. The beauty of Monica Bellucci, even with forty-one years, is the best this mislead movie can offer. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Por Amor ou Por Dinheiro?" ("For Love or For Money?")

Yes, I confess that my approach to this movie was not so enthusiastic, Mrs. Bellucci is not my favorite actress. But the director (Blier) and Gerard Depardieu are a warranty, in my opinion. The movie is a "divertissment" played around a man, who try to buy the love of a magnificent whore(Bellucci), stating he win the price at the lottery,and so offering her a 100 thousand euros per month salary. So, could this indecent proposal buy her love? and what's about the pimp(Depardieu)? The plot has the capacity to stay light, the music helps a lot to accept the events as a play, the life is surprisingly wonderful, love is the mystery. And Monica Bellucci is a full joy, a daydream for all the middle aged, insignificant men searching for a reason to dream.