Una nuova amica

"The New Girlfriend" is a film that will most likely challenge many viewers. After all, it presents some aspects of human sexuality that clearly will offend some and the film is filled with nudity. However, it is very well made in interesting throughout.

The picture begins with a lovely montage in which you see two young girls, Laura and Claire, as they meet, become best friends, spend their adolescent, teen and adult lives together. Each marries and Laura has a baby...and things look great. But then the young mother, Laura, dies and naturally everyone is bereft.

Some time passes and Claire (Anaïs Demoustier) goes to check in on Laura's husband, David (Romain Duris) and is shocked to find that he is dressed as a woman. He makes an excuse that he's dressed like a woman to make it easier for the baby...but it soon becomes clear that he's been dressing like a woman for years....just not publicly.

Through the course of the film, David/Virginia and Claire become close friends...very close friends. She helps him play the role of Virginia better but there is a problem...Claire's own sexuality is uncertain. She fantasizes about David being gay, though throughout the film he appears straight...even when he is Virginia. But her own feelings and orientation are quite vague.

The film explores the wide range of human sexuality and experience and does it quite well. It is very well acted and directed. My only qualm is one flashback scene where you see David undressing and caressing his dead wife...it's pretty disturbing and unnecessary. Overall, a well made film that leaves lots and lots of questions unanswered and might also leave the viewer a bit disturbed as well.

Sometimes, the less you know about a film, the more you are likely to enjoy it. This is one of those times. All I really knew about the movie was that it was French and appreciated by public and critics alike. That was enough for me and ensured that the surprises really were surprises.

You need to know more? OK, the film is based on a 1985 short Story by Ruth Rendell and the directed by François Ozon ("Potiche"). What? You want more? The core of the film is the relationship between characters - the husband and best friend of the recently deceased Laura - ably acted by Romain Duris and Anaïs Demoustier.

Oh, gosh. You want to know what it's about? Let's just say that it's an amusingly serious - if this is not too oxymoronic - examination of sexual identity. And that really is all I'm going to tell you about this enjoyable movie. Now see it for yourself.

PS 1 Why are there so few reviews of this interesting film on IMDb?

PS 2 Why do the IMDb reviews of this film give away so many plot spoilers?

After going over the film list for TIFF 2014 this movie seemed to stand out to me. Based on what I was reading it was actually different from what I expected. I suppose my imagination is just not very creative lol.

I did see this movie with a female friend and she really enjoyed it as well. What I do remember if that within a few minutes of starting the whole theatre was in tears. And then a few minutes later we were all laughing so hard we were crying. That is all I will so so as not to spoil it. We did enjoy the acting, the lighting, the costumes etc. The ending was also very suspenseful and the way tings finished were very interesting. I guess you have to see it for yourself and make your own judgement.

I strongly urge you to watch it and come back with your comments, recommendations, suggestions.

In the summary, I'm only quoting IMDb's storyline for this film. This is all you need to know about its plot.

I just like Ozon's films. I have my favourites, but in all of them I find what I found on Une nouvelle amie: Good story, provocative, even thrilling; good script; well filmed; very nice cinematography; excellent performances. Both Romain Duris and Anaïs Demoustier fit perfectly in their roles. I'd already seen Duris in a couple of films where he provided very good and convincing performances (I now recall De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté; very nice), thus I was happy to find him again (I watched the film only knowing it was by Ozon; that's all I needed to know) and, at the same time, quite surprised about his role. I knew nothing about Anaïs Demoustier and just loved her. Not only she gave a very nice performance but she is also beautiful.

If you are a Ozon fan, like myself, you cannot miss this film.

If you just like plain good cinema, give this film a try. You will enjoy it.

The first film I saw which had a transvestite character was The Damned, some 50 years ago. In the intervening years we've had any number of accounts of a man (why almost always a man?) who has to dress as a woman. Ozon's film has a stale air about it which works against our enjoyment.

For me Anais Demoustier is the sole strong actor in this; Duris and Personnaz give capable support but she must carry the story, and carry it she does very memorably. The feeling is always that punches are being pulled, that possibly painful moments are being glossed over. I expected more anger from Personnaz's character when he discovered the deception (the weekend in the country with Duris, instead of the mother's house). Everybody is so well behaved, it doesn't ring true. La Cage aux Folles had more sting to it, you knew how bigoted some people were.

I haven't really enjoyed an Ozon film since 8 femmes of 2002. He's coasting, giving us tried and true subjects and clichéd situations.