Place Vendôme

This movie is neither complicated nor complex, but its reading is rather incomprehensible. I have the feeling that Nicole Garcia tries to artificially fill an emptyness with a kaleidoscopic narrative, fuzzily alternating with the different characters on the one hand, the present and the past on the other hand, but without giving any explaination about who, what, when, why, ... like within a slow, very slow hubbub. Although the high level actings and the permanent elegance, this movie is globally frustrating and boring.

I've been checking out the comments for this movie and am slightly surprised that no one has noted what appears to be a fairly obvious metaphor. Diamonds are cold, hard, many faceted and beautiful. Catherine Deneuve is the star here. I rest my case. There is, of course, more to it than that but not a lot more. It's French so it's stylish by definition but Nicole Garcia, like so many French actors/writers/directors, was born in Oran, Algeria - gateway to Lisbon and, by definition, a free world, as we learned in the first reel of 'Casablanca' - so there's also something of the outsider element, the shopgirl who came to the ball because her beauty captured the heart of the Second Son, and who feels always slightly uneasy that it all may end tomorrow. So, what do we get for our money? Style, opulence, quasi-noir, great acting. Is that enough? You tell me. 7/10

The plot of this film may centre around scams in the the diamond trade but don't expect slick plotlines and witty, glamorous characters. The film offers instead a look behind the glamour at individuals worn down by their lives, by wrong decisions and damaging relationships. These relationships have developed between characters involved at some time in questionable aspects of the trade and appear to suffer as if mirroring the dishonesty and deceitfulness of the scams. It is a story told at a slow pace allowing the details to unfold and to enable us to get to know the characters and understand their motivation. The acting is superb, particularly Catherine Deneuve, and the film ends on a note which suggests some kind of atonement and reconciliation.

Only for Catherine Deneuve's performance, this movie deserves your attention. She is troubling, beautiful, captivating. A whole life's experience is generously invested in this performance. The story is not bad, some other performances are not as satisfying (e.g. Dutronc), but it is an enjoyable movie overall. And again, a great lesson in acting.

"Place Vendome" tells of the rise of a widow from an abyss of alcoholism to rescue her late husband's prestigious and bankrupt jewelry store on the renown Parisian mall Place Vendome. Her daunting task is to make her way though the shadowy word of diamond trade from whence she came some 18 years before while hawking several rare cut diamonds. With sinister undercurrents and a polished veneer, the film swirls around an emotionally void Deneuve, her encounters and long over due reconciliations. Those used to Hollywoodish hardball drama with exaggerated characters will likely find "Place Vendome" refreshing or underdone or both. Good stuff for Europic buffs in which Deneuve proves again she's more than just another pretty face.