Mademoiselle

Filled with subtlety, nuance, great writing, and acting, this film explores the myriad of events, twists, and turns that bring two people together. Accidents and coincidences flow seamlessly, which is the fun of this film. It also comments on loneliness, being stuck in your ways, and how to apply spontaneity to ease boredom.

This film holds up a mirror to life, simply reflecting it, and letting the audience see what they may. It's also a 'non-romantic' romance, which is what may have bothered the last critic in the acting style of the lead man. He's not overtly romantic, but he's very handsome and funny enough to catch the eye of Sandrine, the lead actress, in an impulsive moment. The scenes take place in parking lots, driveways, a cheap hotel and restaurant. But this is the mundane reality of many peoples lives so it is believable.

It's a pleasant little film, but not terribly exciting. I kept watching it however because of Claire ( Sandrine Bonnaire). She has a lovely face that exudes happiness. Hers is one of the few happy faces in the film. And just listen to her laugh. It's beautiful.

She leads a comfortable life but an uninspiring one until she meets a writer who also does some acting with "The Impromptu Group", a small band of actors who provide lively entertainment of a rather unusual nature at functions such as weddings receptions. I was quite taken in by the commotion at the cocktail party where casual staff were dismissed on the spot because of misbehaviour. The stage presentation which follows later and where the truth of the matter is revealed falls rather flat in my opinion. I couldn't raise a laugh despite the general applause.

The script has a few weaknesses. When Claire meets a stranger Pierre (Jacques Gambin) in a pharmacy, she admits she knows very little about the variety of shaving creams e.g. standard, gel etc. Yet she is appointed to a responsible position as sales representative for pharmaceuticals in the SW district of France. Obviously she needs to brush up on her own promotional literature.

This stranger who happens to be a writer of plays shows little emotion as he falls in love with Claire. I am not sure what Claire sees in this rather inert character who seems to have a perpetual chip on his shoulder. Claire seems to be fascinated by the ease with which he improvises and creates dramatic situations through insinuation and false gossip. Undoubtedly Claire's past life has lacked a lot of excitement.

The story is told in a single flash-back. Claire , a married woman with two children ponders over her unexpected meeting with Pierre when she discovers his play is being presented at a theatre in Toulouse. Her one night fling with this married man reminds me in some small way with Noel Coward's "Brief Encounter" a play which is uppermost in my mind after so many years. As for "Mademoiselle". I am afraid she will soon be forgotten.

I do think Lioret is one of the best contemporary French director.His three last works (from "Je Vais Bien Ne T'en Fais Pas" onward)are among the best French production of the first decade of the 21th century.

"Mademoiselle" ,his third effort ,is not,IMHO,in the same league ,but it does show its director would be a name to reckon with in the following years.

It's actually a long flashback,a process which was more used in the old cinema;it makes sense,for the principal,played by a wonderful Sandrine Bonnaire ,realizes that she has missed a lot by not following her true desires ("Toutes Nos Envies" is the title of Lioret's latest):not only she did not become a stage actress but she has also probably lost the man (Jacques Gamblin ,much better at ease in the intimate drama than he is in the thriller)of her lifetime.

So she remembers 24 precious hours of her life,when she met a group of comedians who acted as entertainers in weddings ,retirement parties. Humor is not absent and the scene of the petition is a great moment of fun.The "speeches" in the gardens of the bride's father's desirable mansion introduce a bizarre emotion .And the little lighthouse and Pierre's story predate another Lioret 's movie "L'Equipier" ,in which the heroes are lighthouse keepers.

Why this title? The word is used once in the whole movie ,but for the heroine,it means her salad days ,when everything was still possible.

I didn't know any movie with Sandrine Bonnaire... I don't know why but knowing she stared in a movie always repulsed me. Stupid me. I didn't know Jacques Gamblin either except for "les enfants du marais", a movie I didn't appreciate so much (not bad, but a little boring except for Eric Cantonna's cameo). In "Mademoiselle", Sandrine Bonnaire plays a serious married working girl who meets an actor... They have a brief affair. That's all the plot, but it is really well told, that's all. I think it can be called a very good movie (let's give it a 9/10). Not the kind of movie that will change your life, but the kind you recall sometimes because of a funny sequence (there is quite a lot of that in this movie).

A married saleswoman misses her transportation and tags along with a troupe of improvisational comedians. I would watch Sandrine Bonnaire reading from the phone book, and it's a pleasure to watch her here, but I left the theatre thinking "So what?". I found the lead male character completely uninteresting, and I could not understand what she would see in him. The whole film leads to their affair, but I didn't find it at all believable. The best I can say about this film is that I did not dislike it.