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Nathalie...
2003 Drama / Romance
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Credits
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Director: Anne Fontaine
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Script: Philippe Blasband, Jacques Fieschi, Anne Fontaine, François-Olivier Rousseau
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Photo: Jean-Marc Fabre
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Music: Michael Nyman
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Cast: Fanny Ardant (Catherine),
Emmanuelle Béart (Nathalie),
Gérard Depardieu (Bernard),
Wladimir Yordanoff (François),
Judith Magre (La mère de Catherine),
Rodolphe Pauly (Le fils),
Évelyne Dandry (La patronne du bar),
Christian Aaron Boulogne (L'homme d'un soir),
Aurore Auteuil (La patiente de Catherine),
Idit Cebula (Ghislaine),
Sasha Rucavina (Marianne),
Macha Polikarpova (Ingrid)
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Country: France
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Language: French
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Runtime: 105 min
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Summary
Catherine, a gynaecologist, has been married to Bernard, a businessman, for twenty years.
When she finds out that Bernard has been sleeping with other women, Catherine is initially
upset but then she becomes intrigued. She hires a prostitute, Marlène, to
assume the role of Bernard’s latest mistress and to tell her every last sordid detail
of their illicit liaisons…
Review
Once again, director Anne Fontaine explores the darker side of human sexuality in this
polished and most unusual romantic drama. It is a subject which Fontaine generally
handles well, her earlier film
Nettoyage à sec (1997) being both
a fascinating and provocative example of the genre. Despite being well-served by
an excellent cast – Fanny Ardant and Emmanuelle Béart give, as ever, near-faultless
performances – Nathalie… is far
less satisfactory than Fontaine’s previous work.
The main weakness with this film is its narrative, which is hampered by needless
repetition which quickly renders the film boring and predictable. The idea of a
character relating her experiences to another character, rather than showing us, is an
interesting kind of voyeuristic device, but you can’t help feeling that the idea
would work far better in the medium of radio rather than film.
© James Travers 2005
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