Nathalie...

I can't understand why this film got such bad reviews and why so many people seem to have a profound dislike for it. Are people really that impatient, have they been blighted by Hollywood movies to the point that they cannot appreciate something a bit more delicate? I found Nathalie tantalising, unpredictable, romantic. I identified & empathised with all the characters, and was interested throughout. Yes, it had quite a slow pace, and there was a lot of talking, but it had an interesting ending which surprised me, and it had a lot of style. It left a few things unsaid, which i like as it gives you a chance to explore the meanings of what you are seeing, almost like a self-psychoanalysis.

Ardant, Beart, & Depardieu all gave great performances. I also particularly liked the soundtrack (I normally hate movie music), and I'm not talking about Nyman's stuff, which somehow passed me by, but the gently throbbing house y, beat y, electro we would here in the club, and in the car (if my memory serves me correctly). This was the best selection of high class porno music I have ever heard, & I'm currently seeking the soundtrack as inspiration for some scenes I'm writing now.

Big-up Anne Fontaine for delivering a delicate, classy film, and big-up the writing team Philippe Blasband, Jacques Fieschi, François-Olivier Rousseau, & Fontaine for writing something intricate and involving :)

My own films are online at www.undeadarmy.org

Despite good work from the three main leads (particularly the women), this is yet another self-satisfied would-be mature study of sexual mores in modern bourgeois French society. A man (Gerard Depardieu) who admits to his wife (Fanny Ardant) of having an occasional fling, is tricked by the latter in falling for a luscious stripper (an overage but still stunning Emmanuelle Beart) posing as the fictitious titular character. The ruse seems to work, with Ardant getting the sleazy lowdown from Beart soon after her every clandestine meeting with Depardieu. But everything is not as it seems...

Starting from the far-fetched premise that a woman would go to all that trouble to win her straying husband back, why should she then still act so coldly to him in private? Actually, I was expecting Ardant to adopt Beart's tricks-of-the-trade in her nightly dealings with Depardieu and not going out and having her own little flings. Anyway, the film is too episodically structured to be anything but a series of tale-telling (in the frankest possible manner, as can be expected from the French) of illicit rendezvous and one grows impatient with the film once he realizes that it's going nowhere very slowly.

As I said, however, the acting is top-notch and Michael Nyman's score is typically arresting. Being that the film is directed by a woman, I suppose that some sort of pro-feminist statement is being made here but, personally, I was far more intrigued by the tantalizing promise (on the DVD sleeve) of watching Beart's routines as a stripper - of which there were far too few (and far too chaste to boot for my liking), alas...

I think "Nathalie..." is a very interesting film. Once again French moviemakers confirm they're among the best European and (to me) World directors. Because they're also able to show a simple story, a simple tale where there's room for feelings and sensations.

A woman discovers she's betrayed by her husband. She hires a prostitute to follow constantly and to seduce him. The wife wants always to be told what has happened (she also wants to know exactly the way the girl has had sex with the man). But between the two women a friendship grows and also in the marriage something changes... Thanks to the young girl the married couple will find again the dialogue. Without being melodramatic, the film has an original approach for telling a story about couple problems and human relationships. "Nathalie..." contains studies about that.

A movie directed by Anne Fontaine and led by a wonderful cast: Depardieu, Ardant and Béart (these are two of the most gorgeous women of French cinema...).

Although you should never really judge a film by its poster/DVD cover, it's hard not to when the poster in question has Emmanuelle Beart looking very saucy and beautiful indeed. The film centres around a failing marriage, mainly from the wife's perspective as she hires a prostitute for her husband and get the low down on his filthy little sexual fantasies. Despite this sordid little set up the film is charmingly refrains itself from gratuitous erotic scenes by only having descriptions of the acts that go on. This results in a very 'talky' film, but still a very steamy and effective one. Ardant leads the film, and manages to give an effective performance as a rejected wife in a passionless marriage, although at some points during the film the audience is left to contemplate her motives, and what exactly she is hoping to achieve from this experiment. Beart, is the real star, not only because she is stunning and makes it impossible to look away from the film, but she also offers a complex character, who is creating a complex character for herself within the film. At times she seems strong and in charge, and sometimes she comes across as weak and insecure. The slow and subtle way the bizarre friendship between the two leads evolves is well handled by director Anne Fontaine. The slow pace of the film is also a delight as it perfectly presents the flow of the marriage itself. Gerard Depardieu isn't used enough, we never get to know the character, and characters opinions contradict what we see of him. However since the film is told from the wife's perspective, this is understandable. Paris is represented with the usual busy streets and coffee shops with small apartments, but this is certainly not a film about locale. Overall the film is a joy to look at, and very well made. An underrated gem to sit down with on a quiet afternoon.

The cast of this film includes French heavyweights Gerard Depardieu, Emmanuelle Beart and Fanny Ardant. That's like getting Tom Hanks, Gwyneth Paltrow and Joan Allen in the same movie.

I'm American but my girlfriend is French so I'm used to watching French movies. What I like about "Nathalie" versus an American equivalent like Adrian Lyne's "Unfaithful" (which itself was a remake of an older French original called "La femme infidele") is that there is no gloss, no silly special effects, just real drama and natural acting.

I don't usually like Depardieu simply because he's in every other French movie that comes out here in France, but I wasn't disappointed with him in this one. He played the part to a T.

Emmanuelle Beart, who is possibly the most beautiful living French actress, brings depth to her character. She doesn't overdo the part at all and she plays it with such coolness and sophistication. The best performance though would have to be Fanny Ardant's. Hers was the most subtle. I also like the fact that she works as a gynecologist in this movie, because later on, you'll see the connection this has in the plot, which the director brilliantly ties together.

My girlfriend claims she already predicted the twist ending, but I admit I didn't see it coming. I'm not so sure it has an obvious moral but I would say that it is a great commentary on appearances, manipulation in relationships and the unspoken arrangement couples have with each other. I definitely recommend this rare mature movie.