La Nouvelle Ève (1999) Directed by Catherine Corsini
Comedy / Drama / Romance
aka: The New Eve
Film Review
This galloping romantic comedy makes a plausible, although far from original, statement
about the frustrations of a modern woman (the ‘new Eve'), but it is somewhat
hampered by an aimless plot and some weak characterisation. Despite one or two entertaining moments,
the whole thing appears weak and overly reliant
on unconvincing stereotypes (particularly of lesbians and men in general). The film's
one saving grace is an ebullient performance from Karin Viard, who plays the feisty, emotionally
unbalanced Camille with gusto.
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Film Synopsis
Not for Camille the oppressive yoke of matrimony. She may be thirty
but she has no intention of settling down just yet. She enjoys her
freedom far too much to do anything so rash and grown-up as starting a family.
She would rather flitter from one meaningless liaison to another, taking
from life what she can without getting herself trapped by convention or that
ghastly overrated thing called love. The prospect of ending up like
her brother - married to a dull woman and saddled with a constantly bawling
baby - is not one that appeals to her. And yet doesn't she secretly
envy those in a long-term relationship? Is she perhaps missing out
on something by playing the modern liberated woman to excess?
These are the very thoughts that occur to her when Alexis suddenly enters
her life, unexpected and uninvited.
Alexis awakens something in Camille, something she has never experienced
before. She isn't just attracted to him physically. She feels
something deeper - the need to hold onto him. This is presumably why
she ends up taking part in his activities as a Socialist Party supporter.
After a night spent sticking up campaign posters in the pouring rain, Camille
follows Alexis home and is surprised to find that he is already married and
has two daughters. The rational thing for her to do would be to end
the affair there and then, but no, Camille stays with it and ends up befriending
Alexis's wife Isabelle and their children. After a while, the affair
seems to have run its course and Camille refuses to go on being the mistress
to a man who has no intention of leaving his wife. Instead, she
opts to marry another man she scarcely has any feeling for and soon manages
to get herself pregnant. It is then that Alexis re-enters her life,
with the news that he is at last a free man...
Script: Catherine Corsini, Marc Syrigas, Emmanuel Bourdieu,
Denyse Rodriguez-Tomé
Cinematographer: Agnès Godard,
William O'Callaghan,
Thérèse Somano
Cast: Karin Viard (Camille),
Pierre-Loup Rajot (Alexis),
Catherine Frot (Isabelle),
Sergi López (Ben),
Mireille Roussel (Louise),
Nozha Khouadra (Solveig),
Laurent Lucas (Emile),
Valentine Vidal (Sophie),
François Caron (Le psy),
Frédéric Gélard (Octave),
Jean-François Gallotte (Le père de Sophie),
Gisèle Joly (La mère de Sophie),
Nora Armani (Laurence),
Alain Baudy (Frisé 1),
Emmanuel Quatra (Frisé 2),
Philippe Lehembre (Homme âgé),
Vincent Winterhalter (Gilles),
Morgane Lombard (Fabienne),
Pierre Baux (Denis),
Simon Bakhouche (Le médecin)
Country: France / Portugal
Language: French
Support: Color
Runtime: 94 min
Aka:The New Eve
Kafka's tortuous trial of love
Franz Kafka's letters to his fiancée Felice Bauer not only reveal a soul in torment; they also give us a harrowing self-portrait of a man appalled by his own existence.
In his letters to his friends and family, Franz Kafka gives us a rich self-portrait that is surprisingly upbeat, nor the angst-ridden soul we might expect.