THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 18, 1996 TAG: 9609180030
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: 56 lines
``NELLY and Monsieur Arnaud'' is a subtle, deeply felt and bitter tale of a May-December romance.
Monsieur Arnaud is an elegant and wealthy man whose relationship with his family has long since dissolved. Nelly is married, but her young husband spends most of his time looking at television while she goes looking for odd jobs to help pay the back rent.
She is 25 while Arnaud is 40 years her senior. A relationship develops oh-so-slowly.
In French with English subtitles, it is directed and written by the thoughtful Claude Sautet who has heretofore been associated with elaborate period dramas. Here, he tackles a contemporary love affair in markedly low-key and realistic terms. It's one of those films in which there are dozens of ``meaningful'' glances. Only to the more impatient will it seem that nothing is happening.
The leads are played by the stars of two of the Naro Expanded Cinema's most popular hits - the beauteous Emmanuelle Beart from ``Manon of the Spring'' and Michel Serrault of ``La Cages Aux Folles.'' Their very different roles here only serve to reinforce the impression and range they exhibited in the earlier films.
After a summer that was dominated by Hollywood ``explosion'' films, here is an effective antidote - a rare film that deals with no more than personal relationships. No more is necessary. There are underlayers of heartbreaking tension here.
Arnaud is a character who suggests that old guys love, too. He hires Nelly to help write and edit a book he is writing about his years as a lawyer on a faraway colonial island. They share details. She divorces her husband. The relationship moves from friendship and infatuation to desire. The fact that Arnaud knows that the age difference makes the romance unlikely only makes more poignant his effort to keep his dignity at the same time he nourishes hope.
The third edge of a triangle develops when his young publisher also becomes infatuated with Nelly.
``Nelly and Monsieur Arnaud'' is a refreshingly personal, and subtle, film. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ARTIFICIAL EYE FILM CO.
Emmanuelle Beart stars in ``Nelly and Monsieur Arnaud''
Graphic
MOVIE REVIEW
``Nelly et Monsieur Arnaud''
Cast: Emmanuelle Beart, Michel Serrault, Jean-Hughes Anglade
Director: Claude Sautet
Not rated by MPAA: (sexual situation but very repressed)
Mal's rating: Two 1/2 stars
Location: Naro, Norfolk by CNB