L'empreinte de l'ange (2008)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Safy Nebbou

Writers:

Cyril Gomez-Mathieu (writer)
Safy Nebbou (writer)

Release Date:

13 August 2008 (Belgium)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Cafe | Instinct | Harassment | Family Relationships | Dead Daughter

Cast

Catherine Frot	...	Elsa Valentin
Sandrine Bonnaire	...	Claire Vigneaux
Wladimir Yordanoff	...	Bernard Vigneaux
Antoine Chappey	...	Antoine
Michel Aumont	...	Alain Valentin
Michèle Moretti	...	Colette
Sophie Quinton	...	Laurence
Geneviève Rey-Penchenat	...	Mme Corlet
Héloïse Cunin	...	Lola
Arthur Vaughan-Whitehead	...	Thomas
Zacharie Chasseriaud	...	Jérémy
Jérémie Nebbou	...	Le policier
Marie-Julie Baup	...	L'infirmière
Pascal Elso	...	L'homme du bar
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Safy Nebbou	...	Le client de la pharmacie
Isabelle Siou

Also Known As:

Mark of an Angel (International: English title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | France:U | Netherlands:12

Company:

Diaphana Films

A Pretty Girl Is Like A Memory

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This has several things in common with Ruiz' Comedy de l'Innocence: in both a mother has lost a young child several years before the start of the film, in both the mother forms an attachment to a child with parents of its own and in both there are implausibilities which are, to some extent, compensated for by outstanding acting. As the two previous posters have already revealed the plot I need only reiterate the SPOILER warning before discussing the flaws. We meet Catherine Frot in the midst of a divorce and sharing custody of her son, Thomas, with her estranged husband. At a children's party she appears drawn to a girl of perhaps seven or eight and determines to find out all she can about her. Turns out that Lola is the daughter of Sandrine Bonnaire and has a brother, Jeremie, the same age as Thomas who Frot uses as a lever to insinuate herself into the Bonnaire household. After an early meeting Bonnaire remarks to her husband what a nice woman Frot is. Frot becomes convinced that Lola is the daughter who burned to death in a hospital fire seven years ago and confides as much in her parents. She confronts Bonnaire and offers to pay for a DNA test. Bonnaire naturally thinks she is crazy but when Bonnaire's husband says a DNA test will clearly resolve the matter Bonnaire admits to Frot that Lola is indeed her child. Bonnaire was at the hospital, saw Frot out cold and assumed she was dead. She then exchanged her own dead infant with Frot's. Flaw #1. How could Frot detect that a seven year old girl was the child she last saw at FIVE DAYS OLD. How come Bonnaire NEVER RECOGNISED Frot when she later admits thinking she saw her dead. Apart from this Frot is outstanding and Bonnaire only a whisker behind.