Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Verity Robins Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

jotix100 Nelly, a young Parisian woman, is married to Jerome, a man who for all appearances does not want to work. Whatever brought them together is keeping them apart, something that Nelly tells Jerome early on as they split. Nelly, who has had a few uninteresting jobs, even selling bread in a bakery, owes money that she will have to repay.Hope arrives as she and Jacqueline meet one day at a cafe. Looking from their table, Jacqueline notices an elderly man enter the place. She confesses to Nelly he is Monsieur Arnaud, who was her lover. Upon hearing Nelly's predicament, Arnaud offers her a job in helping him with the memoirs he has written and he is now revising before the work is published. Arnaud has led an interesting life as a judge in a French possession. With the job, Arnaud tells Nelly he will give her the money in order for her to repay what she owes.It is obvious Arnaud likes the young woman; he would like to have her, but he is too wise a man to realize he has no chance, or that their age difference, will be an obstacle. That is why Arnaud says nothing and acts instead in a subtle way, but ultimately the interest Nelly awakens in Vincent Granec, the editor in charge of the book, proves to be the thing that will work against him.Claude Sautet, the French director, who died right after this film was made, showed he had a great sense of style as well as telling a mature story for more sophisticated viewers. Mr. Sautet contributed to the screenplay, which leaves things to the audience to solve rather than solve the problem for us. Mr. Sautet left an impressive number of films for the delight of his followers.The best thing in the film is Michel Serrault. This versatile actor makes an impression with his subtle performance about a man that can still feel a passion, but is aware a liaison with Nelly will be fatal as far as getting the young woman to love him for what he is. Emmanuelle Beart also has a good opportunity as the shy woman that has been married to the wrong man. Although beautiful she only wears dowdy clothes, perhaps not to provoke the desire that might involve her in an affair she knows is not for her. One thing is clear, Ms. Beart, as a typist, or even a secretary, would not have been able to make a living, but in the make believe world of the movies, one wonders how those memoirs could have been typed since it is obvious she had no clue how to use a keyboard! Anyway, someone as beautiful as her, should never have to worry about those menial things. Jean-Hughes Anglade makes a valuable contribution as Granec, the man that falls in love with Nelly. Claire Nadeau and Francoise Brion, as well as Charles Berling are among the supporting players.

cokramer Exquisite movie. Sautet's a director who builds up his films moment by moment without you realizing the full extent of the feelings involved, usually until the very end. And he doesn't do it with the typical Hollywood flash. He allows you to realize things yourself. This movie of his is no exception. Sautet, through his characters and his directorial realization of the scripted story, is someone who sees above the pettiness of the everyday world.If you haven't genuine love and understanding in your life, you have something considerably less. Late in his life, Monsieur Arnaud, one of the title characters, finally gets it and through his relationship with Nelly (and others) allow us, the audience, to do so also, definitely by the end of this story. 4 aces, five stars, 10 votes, whatever, this is a must-see, especially for Sautet fans who've seen and like his other works.

mmmopens How many film-makers make their greatest masterpiece as their last film? Not many, but to that select list, add Claude Sautet. Nelly & M. Arnaud is exquisite.It is cinema.This is to say that, in common with most truly and unquestionably great films, it could not exist with such power in any other art. The most difficult and also the most wonderful films are the films that take place, primarily in their character's hearts. It was not important what Charles Foster Kane *did*, but what he felt. In this film too, we experience the primacy of human feelings.We do this through two luminous performances that reveal just how coarse is the acting that we habitually see in block-buster movies. One of the many deep emotions that overcame me when I first saw this film was that sheer privilege to see such acting.To see the very gradual, subtle and beautiful love that develops between the two central characters is to get a glimpse of heaven. A film, then, not of love, but the possibility of love, and a warning without didacticism that we all should grasp love if we are given the opportunity.Perhaps the greatest joy of cinema is its ability to allow us to experience rare emotion. This wonderful, wonderful film does that in an effortless way, without sentimentality, and for that we should be eternally grateful. Thank you M. Sautet, wherever you may be.

trpdean This is worth seeing if you have the patience for a movie without much plot - just unexpressed feelings that lie beneath the surface. I truly think most will feel "Huh? What's supposed to be happening? NOTHING is happening here! When the hell does this thing get going?" and yet I can understand that some will be moved.In truth, things do happen but since you never see anyone (particularly Beart as the lead character, "Nelly") express emotion, it's very very dry. *** Spoilers***The portrayal of Beart informing her husband of many years that she is leaving him, seems not to be happening between human beings. There is SO little shown, SO little said. "Ah, oui?" is about it. This is difficult to watch - I'm sure many will see "ah, but what lies underneath, what extraordinary history is revealed by th flicker of their eyelashes", but I like to see drama expressed.The same occurs when her boyfriend merely mentions a new apartment he has looked at. It only dawns later that the fact that the home contains three rooms is meant to convey to the audience a request that she (after a mere month or two of dating) move in with him. When she says she likes the current situation, he says they can no longer see each other. No emotions shown - she leaves. The scene has all the emotional trauma of a DEVO performance.*** Yet all that said, the characters themselves are people I'd like to have known better. Put a plot together and this would be an interesting movie. As it is, it's quite boring.