In the 70’s, Alice d’Abanville (Charlotte Rampling) was a glamorous English actress and muse for the cult French film director Louis Ruinard (Jean Rochfort). The two were also lovers whose affair came to an abrupt end. They haven’t crossed paths in the thirty years since and Alice, who has established herself as the first lady of English theatre, is quite happy for it to stay that way. Alice is married to the wealthy Lord Evelyn Gaylord (Ian Richardson); she has a son who is making his way in the world and a dog who snores. Her quandary is that she has been asked to present Louis with a lifetime achievement award from the British Film Industry, and she doesn’t even want to be in the same room as him.
Louis never married, though he auditioned many ladies for the role, even while he was with Alice in her younger years. Alice remains the great love of his life and when he sees her after the thirty-year separation, he is captivated all over again. Unfortunately, time has not abated Alice’s fury and she works at upstaging him at every turn. Mind you, this is not difficult, as the ever-elegant Rampling is absolutely divine in a range of sublime outfits as well as no outfits at all. Look out for the actual photograph taken of Rampling taken for Playboy magazine by Helmut Newton.
This is a romantic comedy, so you can probably guess many of the plot twists long before they arrive on the screen, but this does not diminish the enjoyment of the very French farce. Lord Gaylord (Ian Richardson) lives up to his name and his man servant Randall (Simon Kunz) has a fun time dropping the largest of hints about his sexuality to the visiting Frenchman.
Directed by Antoine de Caunes. Rated M.
