Place Vendome

"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.

The story of a woman that for meny years remained distracted from her own life, from the passions that made her feel alive. The importance of true love is compared with the material value of diamonds. Only one of these two truly lasts in time. She's got to choose witch one values most for her, the thing that will make her find happiness and psychical steadiness again. Award for Deneuve in Biennale di Venezia 1998 (55 festival d'arte cinematografica di Venezia)

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.

This film would get absolutely no attention otherwise. Story/plot are a convoluted mess; direction and editing are mediocre or worse. Production values are high, but that's pretty typical these days. Lurches from one jarring and opaque scene to another. Especially bizarre is a scene where Deneuve is quite abruptly shown on a train, drunkenly involved in a tough game of cards. Also a very annoying thread runs throughout the film, where various women are showing yelling at men who are bothering them "no leave me alone", then there's a jump to the next scene where they are in bed together.

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