Vénus beauté (institut) (1999)

Employees of a beauty parlor in search of love and happiness.

Director:

Tonie Marshall

Writers:

Tonie Marshall (screenplay), Tonie Marshall (dialogue)

Stars:

Nathalie Baye, Bulle Ogier, Samuel Le Bihan

8 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nathalie Baye	...	Angèle Piana
Bulle Ogier	...	Madame Nadine, la patronne
Samuel Le Bihan	...	Antoine DuMont
Jacques Bonnaffé	...	Jacques
Mathilde Seigner	...	Samantha
Audrey Tautou	...	Marie
Robert Hossein	...	L'aviateur
Marie Rivière	...	La cliente aux bottines fourées
Edith Scob	...	La cliente aux taches sur les mains
Hélène Fillières	...	La fiancée d'Antoine (as Hélène Filières)
Brigitte Roüan	...	Madame Marianne
Claire Nebout	...	La cliente exhibitioniste
Micheline Presle	...	Tante Maryse
Emmanuelle Riva	...	Tante Lyda
Elli Medeiros	...	Mlle Evelyne

Storyline

Madam Nadine manages with pride the "Vénus beauté" Salon which offers relaxation, massage and make-up services. The owner and her three beauticians: Samantha, Marianne and Angèle are pros. Contrary to her friend Marianne, who still dreams of the big day, Angèle no longer believes in love. Marie, the youngest of the three employees, discovers love in the hands of a sixty year-old former pilot, who risks everything...

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Plot Keywords:

love | loneliness | new year's eve | christmas | alienated sexuality | 

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Taglines:

Welcome to the Venus Beauty Institute where love, innocence and sex are a sight to behold.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality/nudity and language

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

3 February 1999 (France)

Also Known As:

Venus Beauty Institute

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$32,150, 29 October 2000, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$416,464, 23 September 2001

Company Credits

Production Co:

Agat Films & Cie, Arte France Cinéma, Tabo Tabo Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Veteran French actress Micheline Presle, who cameos as a spinster aunt, is actually the mother of director Tonie Marshall.

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Quotes

Angele: When you smile I find you handsome.
Jacques: That's because you know my soul.

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Connections

Followed by Venus and Apollo (2005)

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Soundtracks

You Are the Woman
Written by N. Neidhart, J.M. Marrier
Performed by D'Unnienville

User Reviews

Women with lots of issues about men, they are all a mess.

Netflix described this movie as follows: "With "Venus Beauty Institute," French writer and director Tonie Marshall takes us into this world of beauty and self image and into the lives of four strong, smart woman who make their living practicing beauty at a Parisian spa."

I was waiting throughout the entire movie for a glimpse of a strong woman...every woman in the entire movie seemed to me to be needy, insecure, wounded, angry, naive, or self destructive. The implausible plot of the very appealing Antoine, falling head over heels for Angele, I just didn't buy it. Not to mention, why did they have to make him already engaged to someone else? So throughout the whole thing, I'm feeling pissed off that he is betraying his fiance, while wooing this already completely screwed up woman, who has no faith in men already, but this guy is supposed to restore her faith in men, only he is destroying the life of another woman in order to restore the faith of this one????? The whole premise really upset me.

I just wish the movie had been described differently. As women with low self esteem and issues with men, dealing with their issues in their own uniquely unhealthy fashions.