The New Eve (2000)
Starring Karin Viard, Pierre-Loup Rajot, Catherine Frot, Sergi Lopez.
Directed by Catherine Corsini.
Rated UR.
Grade: B-
I've been horribly dilatory in catching up with the best of French cinema; as such, my experience with the nation's impressive film history is limited to the most populist entries. I keep promising myself that I'll get to it but it never seems to happen. In any event, I seriously doubt that Catherine Corsini's The New Eve (La Nouvelle Eve) will be considered a masterpiece by anyone, though it is a worthy effort. It's sometimes rambling, sometimes incoherent but also sporadically insightful. This won't be a blockbuster.
When we're introduced to Camille, she is a pseudo-independent club hopper, having sex with strange men, regularly taking various mind-altering substances, partying with a lesbian couple and earning derision from her family, including her married brother whose wife is expecting a baby. A subtly presented "afraid of commitment" cliche, Camille refuses to get into a serious relationship with anyone.
That all changes when she meets Alexis (Pierre-Loup Rajot). She quickly falls in love with him, before she has a chance to find out that he is a married father of two and a serious political activist. Everybody tells her that chasing a married man is pure masochism and bound to lead to no good, she goes after Alexis anyway. Luckily for her, Alexis doesn't put up too much of a fight -- his resistance amounts to "I can't. No, really, I can't. Seriously, this isn't a good idea. Ok, fine" -- and they start an affair.
Suddenly, after the two spend a weekend together away from the wife, Alexis's wimps out. He says that he can't, in good conscience, continue this relationship and keep his wife in the dark. Confused, heart-broken and frightened, Camille reverts to her old ways, nearly killing herself in the process.
The New Eve hardly ever tests our patience. Though it has a tendency to overstate some of its points, the 94 minutes go by reasonably quickly. Karin Viard gives a discovery of a performance; her desperation is painfully palpable and when she is happy, so are we. She also involves us in her character -- at about the halfway point I realized that I was genuinely interested in what was going to happen to this person in the end. The film sets up its conflict so carefully that the outcome is difficult to predict.
Where the movie goes wrong is its pacing. The film lingers on certain plot points longer than we'd like it to but other events go by so fast that it becomes hard to follow. I think that at one point I actually missed the protagonist getting married. Crucial scenes are rushed through while inconsequentials are emphasized (instead of the lengthy, pointless post-coitus conversation, for example, the film could have used more exposition).
The movie's ending is bizarre and more than a little confusing, though certainly open to interpretation. It's so open to interpretation, as a matter of fact, that it muddles the movie's actual point, leaving us to debate amongst ourselves whether The New Eve was actually trying to say something with its denoument or just to catch us off-guard. Is that a good thing? Well, whatever floats your boat.