Confidences trop intimes (2004)

Director:

Patrice Leconte

Writers:

Jérôme Tonnerre (scenario and dialogue) and
Jérôme Tonnerre (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

25 February 2004 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

She confused him for a therapist and told him her deepest secrets. Now, two people who never should have met are discovering there's nothing more seductive than the truth.

Plot:

A Frenchwoman tells her marital troubles to a man she mistakes for a psychiatrist, and soon they form an unusual relationship.

Plot Keywords:

Extramarital Affair | Psychoanalysis | Secretary | Lighter | Elevator

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Sandrine Bonnaire	...	Anna
Fabrice Luchini	...	William
Michel Duchaussoy	...	Dr. Monnier
Anne Brochet	...	Jeanne
Gilbert Melki	...	Marc
Laurent Gamelon	...	Luc
Hélène Surgère	...	Mrs. Mulon
Urbain Cancelier	...	Chatel
Isabelle Petit-Jacques	...	Dr. Monnier's Secretary
Véronique Kapoyan	...	Female Guard (as Véronique Kapoian)
Benoît Pétré	...	Messenger
Albert Simono	...	Mr. Michel (as Alberto Simono)
Claude Derepp	...	The Customs Client (as Claude Dereppe)
Aurore Auteuil	...	The Student Nabokov
Ludovic Berthillot	...	The Mover

Also Known As:

Intimate Strangers (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual dialogue.

Runtime:

France:104 min | USA:104 min | Argentina:105 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Spain:18 | South Korea:15 | Norway:A | Australia:MA | Hungary:14 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Brazil:16 | Finland:K-11 | Germany:6 | Netherlands:AL | Singapore:NC-16 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | USA:R | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Les Films Alain Sarde

Movie Connections:

Features Concept subtil, Le (1981)

Soundtrack:

In The Midnight Hour

An Original Affecting Romantic Comedy Featuring an All-Too-Human Tax Lawyer!

"Intimate Strangers" brings to the screen an off-beat, original relationships comedy (with real drama too). Fabrice Luchini is Parisian tax lawyer William Faber who lives and works in the apartment he grew up in. His dad was a tax attorney and here the audit didn't fall far from the tree. He's not unhappy, his practice is flourishing, but inspired he's not either.

Almost falling into his office/pad is Anna Delambre, the sharp and beguiling actress, Sandrine Bonnaire. Anna has an ADD history with spatial disorientation deficit so she messes up a simple direction to the therapist's office where she's scheduled for an initial appointment. Instead of the shrink's domain she enters Faber's den and, unaware of her mistake, begins telling a tale of marital discord to the initially unaware counsel who thinks he has a new law client.

It doesn't take long for Faber to realize there's a mistake but he's become intrigued by her and so he schedules a second "therapy" consultation. Faber is sorting through (perhaps without full insight) his feelings about the recent breakup with his live-in girlfriend, Jeanne, Anne Bouchet. Anne is hooked up with a stereotyped muscle man (meaning a harmless jerk) but the two still spend time together including "off the cuff" sex. Bouchet is sympathetically real and touching, in a quiet way, as a smart woman who may not be as sure of what she wants as she claims.

William and Anne continue meeting regularly at his office even after the latter discovers her mistake. Initial anger melts away and a platonic but increasingly intertwined relationship develops to the consternation and barely concealed exasperation of Faber's matronly secretary, Madame Mulon, Mulon, beautifully acted by Helene Surgere, was Faber's dad's secretary and she came with the office. Technophiles will get a kick out of watching her work with a twentieth century electric document production device.

The dark side is Anna's lying to her supposedly impotent hubby about her simmering affair which the guy assumes, with the aid of a private investigator, is Faber. Anna is trying to get her no longer enraptured-with-her spouse back without first considering if that's really the best thing for her.

Slightly plain at the beginning of "Intimate Strangers," Anna morphs into a striking lady as she becomes more confident about handling her life's issues.

Veteran director and acclaimed French auteur Patrice Leconte has made the most of a film that largely centers on intense conversations in small places. The ultimate resolution is no less believable for its predictability.

A good evening at an art cinema.

8/10.