Mademoiselle

Claire (Sandrine Bonnaire) is a sales rep at a growing pharmaceutical company.  At a corporate retreat, she is amused by the antics of the waitstaff, who turn out to be hired improv actors.  After missing her ride home, she tags along with them and starts to fall for one of the actors, Pierre (Jacques Gamblin).  That about sums it up.  There’s very little to this film, to the point where I wondered why anyone bothered to make it.  There are a few charming little moments, but this is hardly one of cinema’s great romances.  Bonnaire and Gamblin are both fine but don’t have amazing chemistry together or anything.  The most interesting thing about the movie is the incredibly phallic lighthouse that repeatedly serves as a plot device for bringing the two together.  Not much is made of it, however… sometimes a lighthouse is just a lighthouse.

Again I’m baffled by the extremely casual attitude the French seem to have about infidelity.  There is nothing to suggest that Claire is unsatisfied in her marriage, but she doesn’t hesitate much to leap into bed with Pierre.  There’s also the driver who boasts of his affairs.  Is this really a cultural thing in France, or is it simply a fantasy that gets idealized in their films?  I often wonder if other cultures, based on our movies, think everyone in America has a gun.  At any rate, I’m personally bothered by such nonchalant attitudes concerning extramarital affairs.  Perhaps that’s more my problem than the movie’s problem… the movie’s problem is that it’s so slight and has little to offer, although it is mildly pleasant, and doesn’t overextend its welcome.  Rating: Fair

IMDb