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:

Psychiatrist | Mistaken Identity | Sex Talk | Elevator | Tax

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:

Australia:MA | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Spain:18 | Hungary:14 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Norway:A | South Korea:15 | Sweden:Btl | 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:

References Rear Window (1954)

Soundtrack:

Sur le Moment

Intriguing, minimalist, and yet uplifting

It is sometimes difficult to walk the fine line between comedy and banality, as well as hiding all the wire and papier mâché that form the construct known as thriller. "Confidences trop intimes" cunningly avoids the traps of both genres by simply shaking the constructs off, layer by layer.

The movie belongs to a genre, "comédie dramatique" ("dromedy"?) which usually in US movies is reserved for romance "chick flicks". Yet these intimate strangers bring quite a bit more to the screen. It's a pleasant relief to see them saying so much with so little, avoiding those deep memorable lines that are so out of place in the mouth of the common people movies of these kind are supposed to represent.

It's by juxtaposition that Leconte achieves the best effect, by not saying too much and underplaying it, always. In one memorable scene the lonely célibataire glances at the stages of life through his window. Through the glass of the opposite building he sees passion, argument and old age as the seemingly inevitable stages of life. His life seems codified, chosen by others and kept and controlled, in the good and in the bad: add the secret ingredient, an excellent Sandrine Bonnaire, and stir.

The film amusingly deconstructs the myth of psychoanalysis, and thanks to the great empathy of the Luchini character, succeeds in expressing the inexpressible, the desire, the longing sometimes solitary and hopeless. 9/10!