NATHALIE

France, 2003, 105 minutes, Colour.
Fanny Ardant, Emmanuelle Beart, Gerard Depardieu.
Directed by Anne Fontaine.

The French are preoccupied with relationships, often very seriously and often in a somewhat dour manner. This is one of those dour films, written for a middle-aged audience who can empathise with the marital crises that threaten a long commitment.

Director, Anne Fontaine (whose previous film, How to Kill My Father, was a fascinating study of the relationship between a middle-aged man and his long-absent father), brings a strong feminine sensibility to this film. She is aided immeasurably by her stars, Fanny Ardant and Emmanuelle Beart. Gerard Depardieu, as the husband, is placed more in the background, becoming more and more the object of judgments by the women and by the audience.

The couple have been married for over twenty years. He has a somewhat cavalier attitude towards women even though he loves his wife. She is shocked to learn of his infidelity which, he says, means practically nothing to him. Her response is not what we might expect. She goes by chance and partly deliberately to an escort club and impulsively offers to pay one of the women (Beart) to start a relationship with her husband and report the developments to her. While the woman does what she is paid for, she realises that she is becoming friends with a woman from a completely different walk of life and a different level of society. She begins to value this friendship more and more. So does the wife, preferring to meet up with the prostitute and talk rather than to be with her husband.

Audiences at one stage might realise where this friendship could go and, at the end, have to re-assess their perceptions of each of the characters. Fanny Ardant, a woman of poise and dignity in her 50s, has a great opportunity to portray the intensity of a woman who loves, feels a betrayal and is led on a path of greater self-awareness in her new friendship. She is the focus of the film, even mesmerising as the director lets the camera linger for a long time on her, giving us time to watch and reflect. In fact, it is a film for serious reflection.

1.An entertaining and interesting French film? Written for an adult audience? Study of relationships, psychology, sexuality? Truth and lies?

2.The Paris locations, the exteriors, the river? Taxis? The interiors: homes, restaurants, bars, the club? The musical score and the songs?

3.The irony of the title, its reference to Marlene and her fictitious character? Relating with each of the characters as Marlene and as Nathalie?

4.The introduction to Bernard, in the shower, his lies, the party, phone calls? His presence and absence? His attitude to love, his permissive attitude towards affairs and relationships? His talk, manifesting his loving side, the tension at home, the interactions with Catherine? The scenes at home, the bedroom, breakfast …? The restaurant and his son, Marie? Breakfast, Nathalie and the light? His being seen only with Catherine? Heard about from Nathalie? The building up of a picture? Audience response to him, belief? Not leaving, tired, playing, Catherine leaving, the discussions? Seeing Nathalie? The end? Gerard Depardieu and the portrait of an average Frenchman?

5.Catherine and her age, the party? Married for twenty years? Phone calls, the return, the motel, hearing the next room, her reactions? The confrontation, Bernard’s response, the possibilities? Her decision to go to the club? Why? Sitting, the encounter with the manager, Marlene and the discussion, the drink? Her hiring Marlene, the nature of the contract, the name Nathalie? Their meetings? Nathalie telling Catherine Bernard’s story? The plans, the moves? Nathalie’s initiation, the cruder aspects of the relationship? The effect on Catherine? Seeking her out, the meetings and places, the club, the bar, the store? The role of Catherine’s mother?

6.Marlene in herself, her age, affluence, style, clothes? Social background? At the club? Relationships? The friendship with Catherine, the change? Her eagerness? Nathalie’s response, listening, learning ?

7.Catherine’s mother, the tantrums and the talk? Having Marlene there, the past, talking?

8.Marlene and her life, her work, accepting the job, the lure, her stories, at work, beauty, at the bars, inventing herself, the response to Catherine?

9.Marlene as dependent, as assertive? In a relationship with Catherine? The relationship of the women? The restaurant, the truth and the embrace?

10.The truth, their each seeing each other? Bernard as more innocent? Catherine as awakening? Marlene and her change?

11.The perspective of women, the director, the central cast, the supporting cast? A feminine perspective on life?