Une aventure (2005) - film review

Julien and Cécile have just moved into a new apartment.  As he makes his way home one evening, Julien sees a strange young woman in a nightdress and bare feet.  Anxious for her safety, he goes after her, but she disappears before he can catch up with her.  The next day, Julien sees the same young woman, Gabrielle.  She appears to be a completely different person, elegant, composed and happy.  Not long after this, Julien again encounters Gabrielle as she was the first time he saw her and succeeds in following her back to her apartment.  When he learns that Gabrielle suffers from sleepwalking, Julien decides to take an active interest in her welfare...

Xavier Giannoli’s second full-length film after Les Corps impatients (2003) is this atmospheric film noir drama which bears more than a passing resemblance to François Truffaut’s La Femme d’à côté (1981).  Although the film is impressive from a technical and stylistic point of view, its lack of narrative coherence and wafer thin characterisation weaken the drama to the extent that even by the midpoint the spectator risks being bored and more than slightly lost.  It is has hard to fault the performances from an excellent cast as it is to criticise Giannoli for his daring dreamlike mise-en-scène, but the film just doesn’t hold together in the way it should and deliver the impact that it perhaps merits.

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