Nelly et Mr. Arnaud

Title: Nelly et Mr. Arnaud
Director: Claude Sautet
Cast: Emmanuelle Beart, Michel Serrault
Released: 1995

"If that film was in English, you wouldn't have liked it so much!" Yes Mr. Cynic, you are correct. Very often I find myself enjoying foreign films, with the dull realisation afterwards that I would not have enjoyed that film had it been an 'english', or american language film. So some of us out there love the exotic appeal of the Other, the Chinese film, the Japanese film, the French film, they all have their own flavours, their own cultural habits that make you smile. It's nice to go somewhere else. Everyone likes a holiday. So why am I reviewing this film? This film is not a holiday. This film is a window.

The simple and sublime brilliance of Nelly et Mr. Arnaud lies within it's script. This, like Educating Rita or Glengarry Glen Ross is a film that would have been just as successful in the cinema as in the theatre. However I'm not the theatre type, and the subtleties that director Claude Sautet reveals in this satisfying drama, with his use of camerwork and position, make this a truly memorable piece of cinema, (as well as the brilliant piece of literature it already is.)

The storyline is a pleasure to reveal because, as good as the script is, the story is still secondary. Nelly is a single and independant woman who, at the start of the film is undergoing an awakening, aliberation of sorts. She lives a solitary life in every sense of the word until she meets an elderly gentleman, Mr. Arnaud. He is in the process of writing his memoirs. He hires her to help him edit the book. The relationship begins. Bear in mind that this is a realistic film. She is young, complex and beautiful. He is old, complex and needy. They are friends. It doesn't get bogged down in unneccessary sexual undertones, although this is not to say that their relationship is a simple one. It is presented as a somewhat frustrating yet mutually beneficial, friendship that at times borders on a father-daughter dependancy. It is touching. When were you last touched?

Be touched. Get it. Watch it. The ending is interesting. This film is for calm people who can appreciate the subtelties of life, of human beings, and of relationships in general. The issues it raises about who we want to be, and who we sometimes become always makes for challenging viewing and contemplation after the movies fairly quick ending. I won't say anymore other than 'this is a clever intelligent film that provides an insightful window into the pain & struggle behind what may look like a mundane middle-class existance, but actually isn't. Be-gone!'

Y.Misdaq aka Yoshi