Nathalie...
- 2003
- 1h 40m
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
5.1K
YOUR RATING
A rich woman hires an elite prostitute in order to verify her husband's faithfulness. Before long the experiment gets out of control.A rich woman hires an elite prostitute in order to verify her husband's faithfulness. Before long the experiment gets out of control.A rich woman hires an elite prostitute in order to verify her husband's faithfulness. Before long the experiment gets out of control.
- Awards
- 2 nominations
Christian Päffgen
- L'homme d'un soir
- (as Ari Päffgen)
Sasha Rucavina
- Marianne
- (as Sacha Rukavina)
Serge Onteniente
- L'agent immobilier
- (as Serge Onteniente-Boutleroff)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaNathalie Ribout, the initial script by Philippe Blasband, was published as a play in 2003 and made it to the stage in Paris in 2009 at the Théâtre Marigny with Virginie Efira as Nathalie and Maruschka Detmers as the wife. The play isn't considered to be an adaptation of the film, but more of a variation on the same idea, as Blasband's original screenplay was significantly reworked for the film, with the couple in Blasband's script being separated and in the midst of divorce proceedings, in addition to being named Sonia and Jean-Luc instead of Catherine and Bernard.
- Quotes
Un client de Marlène: [Sitting with Nathalie/Marlene, at the bar where she works] Can I ask you a question? Are you shaved?
- ConnectionsFeatured in Legends of World Cinema: Fanny Ardant
- SoundtracksTrois Petites Notes de Musique
Music by Georges Delerue
Lyrics by Henri Colpi
Performed by Judith Magre
Featured review
You'd think a gynaecologist would know better
Would a woman, finding out that her husband has been having casual affairs (which he admits to, but says `they are nothing') hire a prostitute to seduce him and report back to her? I don't know, but maybe it's possible in France, a country which prides itself on the tidy management of sex in general. It does seem a rather bizarre way of putting some zing back into a flagging marriage. Fanny Ardant as the voyeuristic wife Catherine dominates the movie though she spends a lot of time staring off into the middle distance. Gérard Depardieu as Bernard the husband is reduced to a bit player. The most intriguing character is `Nathalie' the prostitute played with innocent charm by Emmanuelle Béart, who, though 38, manages to look 15 years younger. She might have a waif-like manner but she certainly has learned what men are like and what they want, and her accounts of her sessions with the husband seem all too authentic.
Unfortunately I worked out fairly early in the piece what was really going on. I won't spoil it for you dear reader, but it is all a bit anti-climactic. The film does have a genuine Parisian feel to it crowded apartments (even that of the affluent married couple), bars, streets, restaurants, etc. All that elegant consumption and all that personal lack of fulfillment. It's almost a relief to discover that one of the patients at Catherine's gynaecology practice, though in her early 20s, is still a virgin.
In its favour, the movie does not drag on too long, and has in `Natalie' a genuinely intriguing character. She is not the usual desperate junkie - she is not without resources, and when not being a prostitute works as a hairdresser and beautician. Is she able to have a `normal' relationship with anyone? At one stage the temperature between her and Catherine gets quite warm. Or is she emotionally burnt out by the rigours of the game? Anne Fontaine as director doesn't seem to want to explore her most interesting character so we are left to guess.
Unfortunately I worked out fairly early in the piece what was really going on. I won't spoil it for you dear reader, but it is all a bit anti-climactic. The film does have a genuine Parisian feel to it crowded apartments (even that of the affluent married couple), bars, streets, restaurants, etc. All that elegant consumption and all that personal lack of fulfillment. It's almost a relief to discover that one of the patients at Catherine's gynaecology practice, though in her early 20s, is still a virgin.
In its favour, the movie does not drag on too long, and has in `Natalie' a genuinely intriguing character. She is not the usual desperate junkie - she is not without resources, and when not being a prostitute works as a hairdresser and beautician. Is she able to have a `normal' relationship with anyone? At one stage the temperature between her and Catherine gets quite warm. Or is she emotionally burnt out by the rigours of the game? Anne Fontaine as director doesn't seem to want to explore her most interesting character so we are left to guess.
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- €7,350,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $31,008
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $10,351
- Apr 16, 2006
- Gross worldwide
- $5,254,422
- Runtime1 hour 40 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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