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...

---

Plot Keywords:

transvestism | mistaken for gay | high heels | stockings | death of wife | 

---

Taglines:

Ozon's farce on the French Farce of comedy.

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

---

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.

---

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.

---

Connections

References Angel (2007)

---

Soundtracks

Rendez-Vous
Orchestrated & Conducted By Philippe Rombi
(p) 2014 Cristal Records

User Reviews

I loved it.

After going over the film list for TIFF 2014 this movie seemed to stand out to me. Based on what I was reading it was actually different from what I expected. I suppose my imagination is just not very creative lol.

I did see this movie with a female friend and she really enjoyed it as well. What I do remember if that within a few minutes of starting the whole theatre was in tears. And then a few minutes later we were all laughing so hard we were crying. That is all I will so so as not to spoil it. We did enjoy the acting, the lighting, the costumes etc. The ending was also very suspenseful and the way tings finished were very interesting. I guess you have to see it for yourself and make your own judgement.

I strongly urge you to watch it and come back with your comments, recommendations, suggestions.

Details

Official Sites:

Cinéart [Belgium] Mandarin Films [France]

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

Budget:

EUR8,946,323 (estimated)

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