Catherine Deneuve delivers a bravura performance in the sophisticated, tightly plotted adult thriller "Place
Vendome." Expertly guided by director Nicole Garcia, it's tempting to view this film as "Belle de Jour 2" and, in fact, there are numerous references to that masterpiece, both subtle (use of red, hairstyles and camera shots) and blatant (the neighborhood, apartment, costumes). Marianne is first seen falling apart in an expensive clinic, cranky
and suffering from an unknown ailment. The famous shot of the spiral staircase from "Belle de Jour" is reproduced and Deneuve repeats her slow ascent. Instead of lightly stepping into adventure,
Deneuve struggles heavily up the steps like a woman vanquished. When she stops in the shadows, eyes darting desperately, mane of hair astraggle, Marianne seems more like a wounded lioness than a rich
neurotic housewife. The screenplay wisely parcels out the connecting mystery between Marianne's crippled demeanor, Natalie's (Emmanuel Seigner)
bed-hopping and the mysterious dealings of several men, delivering tantalizing clues with economy. This film is too subtle and intelligent for that spell-out-the-plot-in-30-minutes film school pap. The film assumes you're smart enough to pay attention –if not, you'll quickly get lost as allegiances are revealed and muddied.
"Place Vendome" is set in the famous French square of the same name in the guarded yet casual business of gem dealing. It's a closed, secretive
world where reputations can be made or destroyed with one action. The well researched setting mirrors the emotional life of the main characters. Twenty years ago, one crucial act bound them all
together in a web of deceit, love, and betrayal. Now it's time to pay the piper, and there are plenty of dirty dealings among this clutch of sleek, privileged people. The film seems to be all
about the men, but one of the main plots involves decisions Marianne and Nathalie will make about each other -- and why. Multiplicity of loyalities and interactions gives "Place Vendome" a lot of
ammunition when it comes to the many wrenching choices these characters all make.
Deneuve is magnificent in the meaty role of Marianne. She communicates Marianne's almost anesthetized behavior
(leaving the cemetery) with the passive burn of a caged animal. She shows us the wreck of a magnificent woman, making us wonder what happened to bring such a dazzling creature to its knees, and then
skillfully handles Marianne's awakening back into the world using all her considerable powers of physical presence and attitude. Pay particular attention to Marianne's voice as she moves from stunned
witness to tragedy, at her first fumbling attempts to broker a deal that might save her, and then her forceful warning to Natalie. Her emotional reawakening seems natural and even inevitable, despite
dramatic changes in a very short time. This is especially acute in the scene where she asks Nathalie about the affair -- you can practically see her coming out of her daze with each sentence.
She's aided by a well-written story
that ties everything together neatly and -- wow! -- gives the characters sound psychological reasons for their behavior.
She plays with great ease and chemistry against her fellow actors: Jean-Pierre
Bacri as Jean-Pierre, a man with a questionable background who might save her and Emmanuel Seigner, giving an excellent portrayal as Natalie, caught at the same crossroads and perhaps doomed to repeat Marianne's tragedy. Seigner still has the compelling presence that
burned up the screen in "Frantic." The scenes between Deneuve and Jacques Dutronc as Battistelli, the man who holds the key to Marianne's past and her future, fall a bit flat but this is partly because Dutronc is outclassed by Deneuve's powerful and complex performance and
partly because he's written as a cipher, an unknowable character. That's one of the points of this film – that no one really knows why they do things and we are largely made by our actions.
Deneuve's accomplishment is to make you care about the fate of a woman who appears spoiled and pampered and then root for her as she attempts to navigate dangerous waters. Screenplay doesn't let the
audience in on the double-cross, which makes us feel Marianne's tension and confusion as she tries to connect the woman in her husband's picture, the lagabout she keeps running into, and her brother-in-law's
bullying.
All this is done with great attention to detail. Not content to stage a mere scene, the screenplay throws in little tidbits of realism that keep this story firmly grounded in
reality: Marianne explains she bought only a Camembert, salesgirls returning flashy pieces to the safe at the end of the day, the tawdry chaos of the hotel room where Marianne tries to
broker her first deal. It's a pleasure to see a film deliver so much attention to detail, fleshing out the place and setting as much as the characters, and it's even better when that attention is
carried over to the characters. It's shocking yet completely in character for Marianne to get blasted and start yelling about dropping underpants, and Deneuve delves into the role of this complex,
brave and haunted woman with all the gusto the part deserves.
Very well crafted and will yield more insight with repeated viewing. This is the kind of film that knows when to take
Marianne's manicure off, leaving her bare-fingered and stripped, and that loose diamonds really are carried in squares of wrapped paper. Director Garcia pulls off a love scene remarkable for its
shifting emotions and clumsy reality as two middle-aged characters awkwardly begin to make love for the first time. Her attention to emotional nuances makes many scenes ring true with the messiness of
real-life pain. Pay close attention to everything in this film: notice how it rains when the characters are in emotionally murky situations, the recurring theme of too-hot rooms, that Jean-Pierre
is frequently leaving the back way and skulking about, the beginning of the film when everyone's face is in deep shadow, when Marianne is seen outside in nature. Beautifully photographed with a misty gorgeousness
that contrasts sharply with the nasty dealings on-screen. Good costume work, especially with Seigner and Deneuve's clothing. Interiors are particularly evocative of the character's lives (Marianne's dark rooms, Jean-Pierre's ramshackle apartment). Offices and cars are appropriately ominous and imposing.
"Place Vendome" is a finely observed character study of a woman who comes back to life not a minute too
late and a clever whodunit that ends with a mysterious and satisfying act of redemption.
Will translate well to the small screen, highly recommended. |
