Nathalie...

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...

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.

Despite a top-drawer cast and a top-flight writer-director this one flopped in France. Something is seriously weird over there; last year Depardieu, Adjani, Ledoyen, PLUS Jean-Paul Rappeneau (Cyrano de Bergerac) failed with 'Bon Voyage'; THIS year Depardieu, Fanny Ardant, Manu Beart PLUS Ann Fontaine (Comment j'ai tue mon pere, Nettoyage a sec)bombed with Nathalie. I've already covered Bon Voyage in these pages, having seen it three times and been blown away each time, but I just missed Nathalie when it was released in Paris in January of this year and I missed it again in April by which time it was reduced to one performance a week in a suburban art house, but now it's arrived in London and guess who was there with bells on at the very first screening. The English press seem disappointed rather than dismissive, on the grounds that the storyline - wife, worried about husband's fidelity, hires a hooker to seduce him and then supply a blow-by-blow, you should forgive the expression, to said wife - is meat and drink to the French so how could they produce a souffle that failed to rise to the occasion. They also claim you can see the twist coming a mile away and all I can say to THAT is that I was too busy basking in Fanny Ardant's eye-acting to spot the clues, such as they were. Put three heavy hitters like Depardieu, Ardant and Beart together in one movie and SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE is gonna think he's died and gone to heaven however less-than-perfect the script and this one is only a TAD less than perfect. Though hardly needed there is also first rate support from veterans Wladamir Yordanoff and Judith Magre, now, incredibly in her 78th year and looking no more than fifty. Of the three Depardieu has the least to do but as always he does it so well it feels like he is carrying the thing. Beart is the weakest link but she is always going to have problems with that incredibly unbelievable beauty that makes her look more like a genuine Stepford Wife than a REAL flesh-and-blood person. If ever a face needed not a whit or a jot of make up it is Beart's and it is sick-making to see it grotesqued up so ineptly with Hooker #7 lipstick and eye shadow. The movie belongs to Ardant and she takes it effortlessly giving what amounts to a Master-Class in eye-acting and if you haven't seen that gorgeous, Ava Gardner look-alike face in repose while the eyes reveal the pain behind them you haven't lived. Okay, the clues WERE there and I missed them but I sure don't feel either cheated or a klutz because for one hundred and seven minutes I was in the presence of greatness. 8/10

In Paris, the executive Bernard (Gérard Depardieu) and his wife, the gynecologist Catherine (Fanny Ardant), form a bored upper class middle aged bourgeois couple. They have been married for many years and their life does not have sexual desire anymore. One day, Catherine listens to the message box of his cell phone and she believes Bernard is unfaithful to her. Catherine hires the beautiful prostitute Marlene (Emmanuelle Béart) to pretend to be a young woman called Nathalie, seduce and investigate the sex life of Bernard and report to her his secrets and performance between walls. Catherine discloses a surprising revelation in the end.

I saw the used DVD of "Nathalie…" on sale in a rental, and based on the names of Emmanuelle Béart, Gérard Depardieu and Fanny Ardant, I decided to risky and buy and watch this movie without any previous reference. I found a great movie, with a very credible story, but for mature audiences only. I believe that only the public of a certain age, who have experienced marriage, will fully understand the characters of Bernard and Catherine, their motives and how true the story is. I was also impressed with the elegance of the great French actress Fanny Ardant and with the eternal beauty of the sexy and also great actress Emmanuelle Béart. The direction of Anne Fontaine is very sensitive, delicate and classy, keeping the story in a very high level, without using any type of subterfuge, such as spicy scene or sexual exposition of the cast. The soundtrack is also excellent. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Nathalie X"

Note: On 03 July 2011, I saw this film again to compare with the weak remake "Chloe".

Nathalie is most marked by silence and waiting. The husband does not talk about his extra marital dealings with his wife, and she does not ask about his. Neither of them speak to Nathalie about the truth of the relationship. I find this contrast to the 'let it all hang out' philosophy of marriage to be refreshing. There are many moral questions raised in this film; is 'talking it out' a good idea when the partners have been married this long, and will it change anything? Who is Nathalie's real customer? What would have happened if the husband and wife had had a row; would the husband have stayed until the end, when everything was revealed? These are good questions, not often dealt with; but the French seem to love having a go at them. Emmanuelle is well chosen as she does a lot of looking pensive, and her face is good for that: Fanny also stares a lot into the middle distance, and her bone structure is good for the late-forties woman she portrays; Depardieu is just such a nice guy underneath his philandery that you can almost believe he loves his wife and will wait to have her back. I liked the film. I like films that make one think.