Nathalie... (2003)

This film, despite being filmed in 2003, looks like it's from the mid-90's compared to Chloe, which is just 6 years younger. Maybe that was the point - some films do that, removing anything contemporary, from references to technology, to give a film a dream-like, timeless feeling. I'm not sure this was the case, as there were both references to bands and places that played contemporary music. Maybe the film just looks old because I saw it on DVD, versus a high resolution stream of Chloe which was sharp and crisp.This film also employs some techniques from the 80s, such as scenes with a strong colored light (in this case, red), that was the dominant color in the picture. This film is slower in pace than Chloe, more subtle and more convincing. It's a very talky film, leaving most to your imagination. It could've used some quick flashes to show Catherine's vivid imagination, but alas. I'm surprised that Catherine did not ask for any proof from Nathalie, not any evidence that she's doing any work whatsoever. Beart's surgical enhancements added to this picture. It didn't make her more beautiful, I believe she looks less attractive, but it works for this film. I can imagine Marlene/Nathalie getting plastic surgery.I'm not sure how I feel about the lesbian scene. I felt that it was coming, but the fact that it didn't happen is an interesting direction. There's more gray area and subtlety in this film because of decisions like that. Would it have improved the picture? I'm not sure. It would've changed it a lot. This movie is about Catherine paying a girl to spy on her husband, but it ends up being psychotherapy and marriage counseling. Had there been a lesbian scene, it would be prostitution, the most expensive prostitute ever, dollars per minute, but prostitution nonetheless.It would've changed the fundamental nature of the film - was Catherine's relationship with her husband cooling, were they drifting apart, not spending time together, not communicating, or was it just that she was sexually frustrated and all it took was a night with a female hooker to set her right? It could have worked with other actresses, but not these two. I'm just not getting that vibe from these two here.The good thing is this film didn't overdo it and add some stupid thing like a murder to spice up the plot.All in all, this is the original, Chloe is the worse cover version, but I give this version a 6.

the last film i commented on was something i considered offensive, "les anges exterminateurs". It earned me some criticism by an angry reader, and i reviewed that film after so i could re-consider my opinion. I stand for my opinion: the film was offensive in how it assumed it was a film about voyeurism and its relation with sex while being simply the result of an adolescent approach to sex, and its director looks at those women as a 14 year old who gets to look at a girl's locker room through a broken glass. It's superficial, and offensive because it takes itself seriously.So, after that, i looked for this one. Still french, still about picturing sex situations. But this is a whole different sport. It's directed and conceived by a woman, and that is significant to the whole final product. I think women are more internal when looking to others. So this film has an interesting dimension of using the female body (and face!) to dig into the women. Those women are fictional, but good fictional characters. The two leading ladies acting is good and supportive of the director's intentions i think. And above all, what we have is not gratuitous. Images come as visual supporters for a story, not as mere illustration. And most important, unlike "anges", here we have images that allow for the development of the story in our minds (thus visual storytelling). In "anges" we had some story about some director wanting to make a sex film, that was a mere excuse for the depiction of nudity.It is the honesty of this film that i crave, every time i see a film. The film may not be as original as it could (and this film certainly is not so original) but i praise its intellectual honesty.Stick with this, it will mildly challenge you. Not the other one.My opinion: 3/5 http://www.7eyes.wordpress.com

"Nathalie" proves that the French filmmakers are masters when it comes to examining sentimental human relationships. Now I know how hard marriages are to manage, how complicated it is. I've always admired the "honesty" of the system of IMDb, but the ratings they've given this film does it no justice at all. Can hardly believe that so few people have appreciated it.Emanuelle Béart is so beautiful, sexy, erotic, malicious; she is perfect for this role - the sadness behind her quiet, observant, etching eyes. Géard Depardieu did a wonderful job portraying his charming character. He must be more than 50 years old, yet, by the end of the film, even I have fallen for his charm. Fanny Ardant fitted into her goody housewife role, most of all was her chemistry with Béart, full of warmth.The full-on English soundtracks throughout the movie suits the movie well, and I am planning on adding them to my collections. A little before Béart, Depardieu and Ardant were supposed to have the fateful meeting at the diner together, I did expect it coming, shortly before Ardant and Depardieu's exchange at breakfast, before Ardant and Béart's conversation at Nathalie's apartment. However, I was still not sure; when it was revealed, I cried. I am extremely touched by this heartwarming film.

I've seen this movie on TV some days ago. I knew a little about the plot from some cinema advertisement but had no clue about the end. So I was positively surprised by it. Usually the ménage à trois ends tragically, but here the viewer's imagination may to some extension finish the story individually. I had read bad comments about this movie in the French press and while watching it myself I really wondered what for? Two of France's most popular actresses and a typical French topic is obviously not enough to satisfy the critics nowadays. OK, the descriptions of sex which actually had not taken place at all seem a bit too long and too monotonous in the beginning, but after having seen the complete movie the viewer should have understood the meaning of that this kind of telling about fictional sex only serves to keep Catherine's attention as long as possible. If the stories would have been too good and exiting she might have tried to explore her new insights at once and by this Catherine would have stopped her deal with "Nathalie" too soon. I was most fascinated by the actresses' capability of shaping such a tension concerning their relation ship on the screen. It becomes clear quite soon that there's more in between these two women than just a client-customer deal but you never know who will take the next step. Fanny Ardant's facial expression for desire is legendary, just have a look at her in "Eight women". If there's somebody who knows to seduce convincingly on the screen, it's her. This movie may have been designed more for TV-broadcasting than in cinemas, but it's a nice piece of erotic entertainment.