Lovefilm dvds piling up so got through a couple today, both Frogesse, one recent, the other the best part of a decade old, both starring very big French actresses I've never really seen before. I'll take them in chronological order. First one I watched was Venus Beauty Salon, starring Nathalie Baye, which won best picture at the French Academy's awards in 1999.
The basic set up is she is an ageing beautician who still tries to act like a teenager. Scarred by her past she has no time for "love", which is in contrast to a young man who becomes besotted with her and pursues her. Comedy first and foremost, the bulk of the film happens in the salon with fellow beauticians Mathilde (sister of Emmanuelle) Seigner and a pre-Amelie Audrey Tautou (shockingly, being *sexy* for once rather than just "cute").
Baye is a very good actress (she clearly hasn't won 4 Césars for no reason), there isn't a great deal of her work available in this country but this nice little film and very strong performance have made me interested in exploring whatever I can of her. The same goes for Isabelle Carré (who has been nominated 4 times in the last 6 years for lead actress at the Césars, with one win) - lovefilm has a grand total of 3 of her films in their catalogue and I've now seen 2 of them 
. Her latest nomination was this year for Anna M. and while I am also seeing Cécile De France in Un Secret this weekend (hopefully 
), already I can't say Marion Cotillard deserved her César win for La Môme because Carré was much more my kind of performance.
The basic story is that a young woman called Anna (Isabelle) tries to kill herself by throwing herself into oncoming traffic. Her attempt is unsuccessful and after an operation leaving a big scar down her thigh she is able to tentatively walk. Her doctor assures her she will progress and he arranges for her to have another appointment with him soon. Thereafter Anna becomes obsessed with our doctor, who is married (the wife being played by Anne Consigny in a ridiculously underwritten role) and begins pursuing him with increasing intensity.
The film is split into chapters : hope, disappointment and hatred. Carré is so fantastic in this, she makes Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction look so cheesy and cut-out in comparison, such is the nuance and depth she adds to her portrayal. She shows the vulnerable, hurt side of desperation so effortlessly and her anger comes from such a genuine place it makes it all the more unsettling than any over the top thesping would have ever achieved. She makes all the right acting choices here, I'd love to see a lot more of her but sadly so little of it is available in this country.
If it sounds as if all I'm talking about is Isabelle it's because ... she is the film. Just like La Môme was all about Marion this is all about Isabelle's performance, the main two differences being (unlike La Môme) Anna M. is actually a good film and Isabelle brings a natural subtlety to her psychologcal role that Cotillard never could because her role was such a physical one. If De France is as good as she looks in Un Secret then we could well be in for one of those years when the César lineup totally pwns the Oscar one (as Catherine Frot looks utterly divine in Odette Toulemonde as well) - even if they may not have made the right choice with the winners, on this evidence the nominations were of a ridiculously high standard.