Nelly And M. Arnaud

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Film Description

Beart plays a woman in desperate need of employment who meets up with a former judge who just happens to be looking for a secretary. As she transcribes his dictated notes for several hours a day, it becomes clear that he is paying her to be not only his assistant but his companion and personal confidant as well. Both of them have a deep longing for connection but neither are comfortable with expressing their feelings. A beautifully-observed character study.

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Review by Howard Schumann on 25th August 2005

In Nelly and Monsieur Arnaud, director Claude Sautet depicts the relationship between an attractive young woman of twenty-five (Emmanuelle Beart) and a wealthy retired judge (Michel Serrault). The setting is in upper middle-class Paris, replete with cognac, 1961 Chateau d"Yquem, stacks of books on the shelf and comfortable looking apartments. At a café one afternoon, Nelly is introduced by a friend to M. Arnaud who offers to give her 30,000 francs to help her get out of debt. She first refuses, then later agrees and also accepts his offer to type his memoirs on his computer. As she transcribes his verbally-dictated notes several hours a day, it becomes clear that he is paying her to be not only his assistant but his companion and personal confidant as well.

Arnaud is attracted to the younger woman but is reluctant to take risks and is content with the companionship he looks forward to every few days. Neither is comfortable with fully expressing their feelings. Nelly holds people at a distance, seeming to notice their needs but ultimately rejecting their advances with small but hurtful lies. Nelly and Monsieur Arnaud is the type of film that comes to mind when we think of French cinema: thoughtful, restrained, and sensitive; a delicately nuanced character study performed by accomplished actors. The characters are very human and Sautet makes us care about them, revealing their subtleties to us in a way that evokes our compassion. The film conveys the characters' deep longing for connection but, like many of us, they are more comfortable with maintaining the status quo. At the end, nothing much seems to have changed but a hint that passion may have entered the picture in an unforeseen manner is unmistakable.

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