Director: Anne Fontaine
Year Released: 2003
Rating: 2.0
Gérard Depardieu admits to his physician wife Fanny Ardant that he hasn't been faithful to her, so Dr. Ardant hires a young prostitute (Emmanuelle Béart) to seduce him and report back in exquisite detail both what they did and how they did it. I'm not entirely clear how hearing about a wayward spouse's indiscretions is supposed to 'help' a jilted wife, as she doesn't use the knowledge to 'lure' him back to her, although it may have something to do with controlling (and finding power in) information - it's better to be aware of the particulars of the affair than oblivious to them, I guess. Still, this plot comes across as a rather repetitive attempt by a bourgeois woman to punish herself for being a sub-par wife rather than a bourgeois woman getting even with her husband or even her husband being taught a lesson. The 'twist,' which I suspected but didn't completely figure on comes as both a surprise and as an easy way out for director Fontaine (though for once the hooker does not have a heart of gold) - the concluding shots suggest some kind of reconciliation, which seems improbable, and shows the adulterer (Depardieu) avoiding any kind of repentance.
