The New Girlfriend (2014)

A young woman makes a surprising discovery about the husband of her late best friend.

Director:

François Ozon

Writers:

Ruth Rendell (novel), François Ozon (screenplay)

Stars:

Romain Duris, Anaïs Demoustier, Raphaël Personnaz

1 win & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Romain Duris	...	David / Virginia
Anaïs Demoustier	...	Claire
Raphaël Personnaz	...	Gilles
Isild Le Besco	...	Laura
Aurore Clément	...	Liz, la mère de Laura
Jean-Claude Bolle-Reddat	...	Robert, le père de Laura
Bruno Pérard	...	Eva Carlton
Claudine Chatel	...	La nounou
Anita Gillier	...	Infirmière
Alex Fondja	...	Aide-soignant
Zita Hanrot	...	Serveuse restaurant
Pierre Fabiani	...	Homme salon de thé
Mayline Dubois	...	Laura 7 ans
Anna Monedière	...	Claire 7 ans
Brune Kalnykow	...	Lucie 7 ans

Storyline

Claire and Laura have been friends since primary school. Now, in their adult lives, with each happily married, to Gilles and David respectively, they are as close as ever. Then Laura dies after an illness and Claire's world is suddenly very empty. Being the godmother of Laura's child, Lucie, Claire visits David and Lucie, only to discover he has a startling secret...

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Plot Keywords:

transvestism | mistaken for gay | pantyhose | high heels | stockings | 

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Taglines:

Ozon's farce on the French Farce of comedy.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some strong sexual content and graphic nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

Matthias Schoenaerts was François Ozon's original choice for the role of David/Virginia, but the actor turned it down. Schoenaerts was filming Far from the Madding Crowd (2015) at the same time that "The New Girlfriend" was being filmed. Romain Duris was cast instead.

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Goofs

At the start, when Laura had her eyes closed; her appeared to be natural looking blue color. In reality, her eyes would had been discolored to a lighter blue.

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Connections

References Angel (2007)

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Soundtracks

Laura
Orchestrated & Conducted By Philippe Rombi
(p) 2014 Cristal Records

User Reviews

Brilliant, beautiful exploration of the nature of attraction, friendship and love.

I came to this film as a long-time lover of French cinema, a devotee of Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine's masterful storytelling (here given its deserved production values at last, after all of the rather limiting low-budget TV adaptations) and Romain Duris' incredibly versatile, sensitive acting - so all the elements were already in place; it was pretty much a foregone conclusion I would adore it, but I still wasn't prepared for the emotional head-rush.

The nature of attraction is explored fascinatingly; it goes through stages including revulsion, acceptance, friendship, attraction and love and revisits them, with an ending that blew me away and stayed with me long after the film finished, making me think deeply about the limitless nature of love and things unexpectedly turning out for the best.

The two leads were captivating and the unexpected humorous touches at some of the saddest or serious of moments were a pure joy.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [Japan]

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

18 September 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

The New Girlfriend

Filming Locations:

Studios de Paris, La Cité du Cinéma, Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$39,035, 20 September 2015

Gross USA:

$146,754

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,215,796

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mandarin Films, FOZ, Mars Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1