Les Infortunes de la beauté (1999) Directed by John Lvoff
Comedy / Drama
Film Review
The inconsequential nature of this film and its wishy-washy plot makes it inordinately
difficult to take seriously, although it is oddly entertaining in places.
Some laughably pretentious dialogue and needlessly arty camera work undermine the film's
better points, which include a number of genuinely funny comic situations. The film's
star, the ever lovely Arielle Dombasle, is captivating, but, hampered by a lacklustre
script, she shines far less brightly than in the films of Eric Rohmer, to which this film
is, in some ways, a very pale approximation.
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Film Synopsis
Daphné isn't confident that her amazing good looks and scintillating
personality are enough to convince the man she loves, Vincent, that he should
give up his compulsive philandering and devote himself entirely to her.
So she gets together with her friend Céline and hatches a cunning
plot that cannot fail to allow her to tie the connubial knot around the neck
of the man she has set her heart on. The plan is to scour the streets
of Paris in search of the most perfect woman. Having found this marvel
of female pulchritude, Daphné will then persuade her to pose naked
for an artist, the intention being to convince Vincent that Daphné
has everything he could possibly want in a woman. Unfortunately, beauty
is very much in the eye of the beholder and it isn't long before the devious
scheme begins to go slightly awry...
Script: Laure Massenet,
Frédéric Beigbeder,
John Lvoff
Cinematographer: Gilles Porte
Music: Frédérick Rousseau
Cast:Arielle Dombasle (Daphné),
Maria de Medeiros (Céline),
Thibault de Montalembert (Vincent),
Jean-Philippe Écoffey (Jacques),
Louis-Do de Lencquesaing (François),
Dorothee Capelluto (Sophie),
Leonor Varela (Annabella),
Frédéric Beigbeder (Luc),
Gaëla Le Devehat (Juliette),
Pascal Bonitzer (Le détective),
Paulo Branco (Le gardien),
Gunilla Karlzen (Executive woman),
Tom Novembre (Le client),
Emiko Ota (La Japonaise),
Cristina Cascardo (La femme suivie),
Boris Cugier (Le vendeur),
Solenne Gatty (La vendeuse),
Christel Lebrunie (La fille sondage),
Corina Marinescu (Le mannequin fnac),
Arnaud Fordant (Un jeune fnac)
Country: France
Language: French
Support: Color
Runtime: 81 min
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