Nathalie...

Would a woman, finding out that her husband has been having casual affairs (which he admits to, but says `they are nothing') hire a prostitute to seduce him and report back to her? I don't know, but maybe it's possible in France, a country which prides itself on the tidy management of sex in general. It does seem a rather bizarre way of putting some zing back into a flagging marriage. Fanny Ardant as the voyeuristic wife Catherine dominates the movie though she spends a lot of time staring off into the middle distance. Gérard Depardieu as Bernard the husband is reduced to a bit player. The most intriguing character is `Nathalie' the prostitute played with innocent charm by Emmanuelle Béart, who, though 38, manages to look 15 years younger. She might have a waif-like manner but she certainly has learned what men are like and what they want, and her accounts of her sessions with the husband seem all too authentic.

Unfortunately I worked out fairly early in the piece what was really going on. I won't spoil it for you dear reader, but it is all a bit anti-climactic. The film does have a genuine Parisian feel to it – crowded apartments (even that of the affluent married couple), bars, streets, restaurants, etc. All that elegant consumption and all that personal lack of fulfillment. It's almost a relief to discover that one of the patients at Catherine's gynaecology practice, though in her early 20s, is still a virgin.

In its favour, the movie does not drag on too long, and has in `Natalie' a genuinely intriguing character. She is not the usual desperate junkie - she is not without resources, and when not being a prostitute works as a hairdresser and beautician. Is she able to have a `normal' relationship with anyone? At one stage the temperature between her and Catherine gets quite warm. Or is she emotionally burnt out by the rigours of the game? Anne Fontaine as director doesn't seem to want to explore her most interesting character so we are left to guess.

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.

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.

Nathalie was recommended to me by a good friend with good taste in movies. So, I was disappointed when I watched a well-made movie with a hollow premise.

At the heart of the plot is a middle-aged wife who finds out her husband is sleeping around (as French husbands do, as her mother observes). Yet, she is cold in bed, and, worse, employs a beautiful winsome prostitute (to whom she gives the name Nathalie) as bait, to see how her husband behaves when he plays around.

In a seemingly obsessive manner, the wife seeks Nathalie's accounts of her encounters with the unsuspecting husband. And, the more she hears, the more she is hurt, and the colder she becomes towards her husband. The accounts are sexy and provide the momentum in the movie, but, as they grow in intensity, the wife becomes more and more ridiculous as she listens and does nothing as her marriage seems to be going down the gurgler. Does she WANT to lose her husband?? Why doesn't she use the stimulus of Nathalie's accounts to regain some of her waning sexual interest? Why doesn't she respond to the attempts of her husband to woo her back?

The twist in the end saves the movie, however, and just as well. This was a puzzling movie to me, with such a great cast, but with Fanny Ardant playing a dumb wife. French movies used to portray human relationships better this!

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...).