If you are going to make a film about blank, lifeless characters, you need something special to keep the movie itself from being that as well. Something, I don't know what, but a slightly above average script just isn't enough.

Humorless, dull members of a privileged class of artistic types who are impossibly perceptive and introspective. This works for the lead character, who is supposed to be an empty shell of a man. But why is everyone else so fucking boring? It's all so stuffy and so damn "French" that it's almost a parody. I don't want to say it's a piece of shit... the performances are fine, it's nicely shot, the music is lovely and there are some interesting subtleties. But there's nothing special about it.

Auteuil's cold and distant character, and Beart as the woman who may or may not be catching his fancy, are the heart of the film displaying both vulnerability and coldness in a way that makes them captivating and sympathetic, but never pitiable. Thematically the film is a little inconsistent, clearly about a guy who's closed himself off to the world but Sautet seems unsure of how much the audience should be let in. It leaves the whole imperfect, but still very rich.

#869

Another of Sautet's effective intimate movies. It requires close attention, but rewards it. Emmanuelle Beart's performance in particular is superb

# 904

844

766