Erstwhile Wunderkind François Ozon finally regains his grand form left floundering in the wake of his 2007 fiasco and first (and thus far only) English language film ANGEL. His immediate follow-up, RICKY, proved wildly uneven with a head-scratching second half undoing its initial poignancy. POTICHE did extremely well at the box-office but couldn't help but feel like 8 WOMEN Lite with both THE REFUGE and IN THE HOUSE teetering on the brink of greatness but hampered by bland or unsatisfactory endings respectively. Reason to rejoice about THE NEW GIRLFRIEND then, all the more surprising because it is one of those rare instances that finds Ozon adapting a literary source (in this case, a Ruth Rendell potboiler) to accommodate his personal proclivities rather than working from an original, preferably self-penned screenplay, a skill he has been somewhat faltering at of late.
It was love at first sight for Claire and Laura, played as adults by Anaïs Demoustier and Isild Le Besco respectively, when they met at school aged 7 and were to become inseparable over the following years. Romance and marriage barely intervened so it was almost a given that Claire would vow to take care of Laura's husband David (Romain Duris) and their newborn baby Lucie when her BFF passed away mere months after childbirth. Now it's one thing to make such a promise but quite a different matter to follow through and Claire's so overcome with grief herself that she can't bear to be around her dead friend's husband, until she accidentally finds out his great secret...
Spoiler alert !!! Venturing into the late Laura's house when the doorbell goes unanswered, Claire stumbles across David in full female drag casually giving his daughter her afternoon bottle. Although he claims this is his admittedly rather unique way to cover up a mother's absence to his infant offspring, David can barely disguise his excitement when showing Claire his wardrobe, consisting mostly of Laura's altered clothes and wigs bought over the internet. Claire's initial shock turns to bemusement as she christens David's alter ego "Virginia" and agrees to take "her" shopping and to the movies, the Vivien Leigh version of WATERLOO BRIDGE at a repertory theater where Virginia's felt up by an anonymous patron, "her" excitement stemming not so much from sexual pleasure as from the stranger's casual acceptance of "her" as a woman.
Keeping David's secret life - and by extension her own as an all too willing accomplice - carefully hidden from her doting but clueless husband Gilles (the extraordinarily handsome Raphaël Personnaz, best known for playing MARIUS in Daniel Auteuil's recent Marcel Pagnol adaptations), Claire experiences a growing need to spend time with "Virginia" who's obviously filling the void left by Laura so they decide to spend an entire weekend together at the rural getaway of David's in-laws with lies told to all concerned. A trip to a pan-sexual nightclub confronts them with their secret selves as they watch sensational drag diva Eve Carlton mime to Nicole Croisille's haunting Une Femme Avec Toi, a song successfully treading the fine line between heartfelt and melodramatic similar to Ozon's finest work. The song's reappearance at the story's climax will provide an emotional sucker punch though it could so easily have slipped into mawkishness had the director (or his cast) hit the wrong notes.
I must admit to breathing a huge sigh of relief in witnessing the assurance with which Ozon handles this tricky material, his in your face impudence first endearing him to cinema critics worldwide having matured into forgiveness and understanding of what drives his troubled characters. The gorgeous glowing hues of the autumnal photography by Pascal Marti (who shot Philippe Labro's underrated RIVE DROITE, RIVE GAUCHE a full three decades ago) celebrate the "lifelong" friendship between Claire and Laura in the engaging opening montage, gaining a distinctly ironic edge when they return for an ambiguously "happy" ending that will have you pondering its morbidly unhealthy implications for days after-wards.
Still, even the most compelling tale would fall flat on its face without the right actors to tell it. Cast against type from his familiar ne'er do well Lotharios, Duris shines as the gender-conflicted David, his cross-dressing going from clumsy (sporting an overlooked five o'clock shadow when first going out) to completely convincing as "Virginia" gains gradual assurance, and the upper hand perhaps ? Up against such a showy part, it's not easy for youthful Anaïs Demoustier to hold her own, making it all the more impressive when she wrestles the limelight away from her experienced "leading lady". Claire's inner conflict remains very much the focus throughout, her affection for Laura having missed the opportunity of evolving into something more "transgressive" (as evidenced by a pair of highly erotic same sex fantasy sequences) with David/Virginia as a potential substitute. Of course, the ravishing redhead's willingness to undress (already displayed in Malgorzata Szumowska's sweltering ELLES) doesn't hurt and immediately endears her to this old pervert's heart. Always great to see veteran actress Aurore Clément (although she seems to have suffered some dodgy cosmetic surgery) as Laura's grieving mom and toothsome Isild Le Besco (sister of actress/director Maïwenn) practically creates an entire character out of thin air, projecting Laura's luminescence hovering over a narrative she's only spectrally part of.
It was love at first sight for Claire and Laura, played as adults by Anaïs Demoustier and Isild Le Besco respectively, when they met at school aged 7 and were to become inseparable over the following years. Romance and marriage barely intervened so it was almost a given that Claire would vow to take care of Laura's husband David (Romain Duris) and their newborn baby Lucie when her BFF passed away mere months after childbirth. Now it's one thing to make such a promise but quite a different matter to follow through and Claire's so overcome with grief herself that she can't bear to be around her dead friend's husband, until she accidentally finds out his great secret...
Spoiler alert !!! Venturing into the late Laura's house when the doorbell goes unanswered, Claire stumbles across David in full female drag casually giving his daughter her afternoon bottle. Although he claims this is his admittedly rather unique way to cover up a mother's absence to his infant offspring, David can barely disguise his excitement when showing Claire his wardrobe, consisting mostly of Laura's altered clothes and wigs bought over the internet. Claire's initial shock turns to bemusement as she christens David's alter ego "Virginia" and agrees to take "her" shopping and to the movies, the Vivien Leigh version of WATERLOO BRIDGE at a repertory theater where Virginia's felt up by an anonymous patron, "her" excitement stemming not so much from sexual pleasure as from the stranger's casual acceptance of "her" as a woman.
Keeping David's secret life - and by extension her own as an all too willing accomplice - carefully hidden from her doting but clueless husband Gilles (the extraordinarily handsome Raphaël Personnaz, best known for playing MARIUS in Daniel Auteuil's recent Marcel Pagnol adaptations), Claire experiences a growing need to spend time with "Virginia" who's obviously filling the void left by Laura so they decide to spend an entire weekend together at the rural getaway of David's in-laws with lies told to all concerned. A trip to a pan-sexual nightclub confronts them with their secret selves as they watch sensational drag diva Eve Carlton mime to Nicole Croisille's haunting Une Femme Avec Toi, a song successfully treading the fine line between heartfelt and melodramatic similar to Ozon's finest work. The song's reappearance at the story's climax will provide an emotional sucker punch though it could so easily have slipped into mawkishness had the director (or his cast) hit the wrong notes.
I must admit to breathing a huge sigh of relief in witnessing the assurance with which Ozon handles this tricky material, his in your face impudence first endearing him to cinema critics worldwide having matured into forgiveness and understanding of what drives his troubled characters. The gorgeous glowing hues of the autumnal photography by Pascal Marti (who shot Philippe Labro's underrated RIVE DROITE, RIVE GAUCHE a full three decades ago) celebrate the "lifelong" friendship between Claire and Laura in the engaging opening montage, gaining a distinctly ironic edge when they return for an ambiguously "happy" ending that will have you pondering its morbidly unhealthy implications for days after-wards.
Still, even the most compelling tale would fall flat on its face without the right actors to tell it. Cast against type from his familiar ne'er do well Lotharios, Duris shines as the gender-conflicted David, his cross-dressing going from clumsy (sporting an overlooked five o'clock shadow when first going out) to completely convincing as "Virginia" gains gradual assurance, and the upper hand perhaps ? Up against such a showy part, it's not easy for youthful Anaïs Demoustier to hold her own, making it all the more impressive when she wrestles the limelight away from her experienced "leading lady". Claire's inner conflict remains very much the focus throughout, her affection for Laura having missed the opportunity of evolving into something more "transgressive" (as evidenced by a pair of highly erotic same sex fantasy sequences) with David/Virginia as a potential substitute. Of course, the ravishing redhead's willingness to undress (already displayed in Malgorzata Szumowska's sweltering ELLES) doesn't hurt and immediately endears her to this old pervert's heart. Always great to see veteran actress Aurore Clément (although she seems to have suffered some dodgy cosmetic surgery) as Laura's grieving mom and toothsome Isild Le Besco (sister of actress/director Maïwenn) practically creates an entire character out of thin air, projecting Laura's luminescence hovering over a narrative she's only spectrally part of.