Nelly et Monsieur Arnaud (1995) - film review

Through a meeting with a friend, Nelly is introduced to a wealthy retired business man, Monsieur Arnaud.  Nelly talks a little about her life – she is married to an unemployed layabout and, having lost a well-paid job, she is now heavily in arrears on her rent.  Arnaud offers to pay off her debts and, after some reflection, Nelly accepts.  She also agrees to help her benefactor type up his memoirs.  As the young woman and the old man get to know one another, a strange bond develops between them, tender, yet so distant...

Claude Sautet’s final film is amongst his finest achievements, a dark, intriguing tale of repressed love performed by two of France’s most talented actors.  It is a daring film which relies almost exclusively on the ability of its two lead actors to portray the complex interactions arising from an impossible love between a love-scarred young woman and a timid, sedentary older man.   That the film succeeds, and does so admirably, is as much a testimony to Sautet’s vision and courage as to the skill of his actors.  On its first release in France, the film was well received by both the public and critics alike, and won two Césars (for best director and best actor).

The film is perfectly constructed, as compelling as a suspense thriller yet carrying the tenderness of a true love story – except that all emotion is rigorously held back, creating an almost unbearable sense of ambiguity and uncertainty.

The two lead actors are perfectly cast.  Michel Serrault’s detachment gives the film an almost tragic dimension, although the character he plays is so complex that we never fully sympathise with him.  Likewise, Emanuelle Béart’s character, Nelly, is full of contradictions, preventing us from every really understanding what makes her tick.  It is magnificent role for Béart and her performance reveals a formidable acting talent, full of subtlety and suppressed emotion.  The two actors deliver a remarkable, probably unique, cinematographic experience involving two contrasting characters acting out a dangerous intellectual mating ritual which neither is able to go beyond.

Although, on the surface, a simple piece of cinema, conventionally made with no artistic gimmickry, Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud is undoubtedly a fascinating and profoundly complex film.  This complexity lies mainly in the subtext and the subtle visual cues, something which, like a well-composed piece of music or a painting, allows anyone who views the film to make his or her own interpretation.  In his final parting shot, Sautet reminds us that cinema genuinely is a form of art – entertaining yet capable of provoking thought and revealing new insights on life.

© James Travers 2000

Write a review for this film...

What do you think of this film?