Taglines: Can you ever control another person’s sexuality?
Nathalie… is a 2003 French drama film directed by Anne Fontaine, and starring Fanny Ardant, Emmanuelle Béart, and Gérard Depardieu.
Nathalie is the name a Parisian prostitute assumes for a special mission or “private investigation.” She is engaged in this unusual and secretive task by a professional, upper-middle-class wife who fears that her husband is unfaithful to her. Nathalie has to seduce the clueless husband and regularly report all details of her relationship with him, including his most intimate sexual preferences in bed. Nathalie is stunning, charming, and cunning. Can Nathalie and her reports to the mistrustful wife be trusted? Is the middle aged husband indeed unfaithful?
I think “Nathalie…” is a very interesting film. Once again French moviemakers confirm they’re among the best European and (to me) World directors. Because they’re also able to show a simple story, a simple tale where there’s room for feelings and sensations.
A woman discovers she’s betrayed by her husband. She hires a prostitute to follow constantly and to seduce him. The wife wants always to be told what has happened (she also wants to know exactly the way the girl has had sex with the man). But between the two women a friendship grows and also in the marriage something changes… Thanks to the young girl the married couple will find again the dialogue. Without being melodramatic, the film has an original approach for telling a story about couple problems and human relationships. “Nathalie…” contains studies about that.
Directed by: Anne Fontaine
Starring: Fanny Ardant, Emmanuelle Béart, Gérard Depardieu, Wladimir Yordanoff, Judith Magre, Évelyne Dandry, Aurore Auteuil
Screenplay by: Philippe Blasband, Jacques Fieschi
Production Design by: Michel Barthélémy
Cinematography by: Jean-Marc Fabre
Film Editing by: Emmanuelle Castro
Costume Design by: Pascaline Chavanne
Set Decoration by: Boris Piot
Music by: Michael Nyman
Studio: Koch-Lorber Films
Release Date: September 11, 2003
