This clever as well as surprisingly sexy French thriller was a complete unknown to me when I found it staring at me from the second hand DVD shelves. Well, actually it was the view of scrumptious Clotilde Courau's panty-clad backside that caught my initial attention, but I digress
Taking a chance, I took it home, er, the movie not Ms. Courau's posterior, that is.
Suffering from writer's block, struggling author Jean (Jean-Hugues Anglade) finds his financial problems swept away when his elderly, invalid across the street neighbor Jean-Eudes Guillemet (unseen but voiced by veteran actor Jean Dessailly) dies from a heart attack and leaves his vast estate to him and his pretty wife Michelle (Corau), apparently to spite his less than cherished relatives. The only conditions are that they leave his personal belongings untouched and that they keep on his doting housekeeper Clémence (Christine Boisson). Jean finds the whole bizarre situation most stimulating and starts piecing together Guillemet's past history from the papers found in his desk, leading to many a disconcerting revelation such as when he comes across a stack of photos of his scantily attired spouse
As it turns out, this is an atmospheric little suspense flick, liberally borrowing from any number of established sources (REBECCA, PACIFIC HEIGHTS and BODY DOUBLE to name but a few of the more obvious influences), with good to great acting from all involved. Especially noteworthy is lovely aforementioned Corau, whose future as a screen actress seems uncertain now that she's married into royalty but who at least leaves us with a lengthy look at her undraped form to remember her by. Apart from the nudity, she projects an appealing vulnerability that may conceal something altogether darker. There's also really good chemistry between her and leading man Anglade and you find yourself rooting for this couple to make it through all the obstacles various adversaries throw at them for motives only revealed in the final act.
Screen veteran Boisson (whose career started back in 1975 with FLIC STORY) makes something quite special out of the seemingly stock character of the shady housekeeper, constantly hovering between accomplice and enemy to Jean and Michelle, and fairly surprisingly at this late stage in both life and career has several lingering nude scenes as well. Rest assured that these were anything but a mistake. Talk about aging gracefully. Ay caramba !
But the real star of the piece is definitely the screenplay, attributed to one Valérie Guignabodet (I'll admit, your guess is as good as mine
), which flings one surprise after another at the unsuspecting viewer right down to the ambiguous ending which sheds new light on all that has preceded. If you happen to be watching on French DVD (it comes with English subs so there's no excuse) there's the included bonus of the incriminating photos and videotape only snippets of which turn up in the actual film to clarify the mystery even further.
