You will find no more seductive a film this year than Anne Fontaine's delightfully wicked satire La Fille de Monaco. The film is full of invention, wit and spirit, and drenched in a simmering Mediterranean sensuality that seamlessly blossoms into steamy sexuality. It features Fabrice Luchini, one of France's finest actors at the height of his powers. He is joined by Roschdy Zem, whom we first saw in Indigènes in 2006, and Louise Bourgoin, a stunning newcomer destined for stardom. This perfectly matched trio discovers a wealth of material in the salacious script co-written by Fontaine and Benoît Graffin.
The film is set against the sparkling exoticism of the principality of Monaco, and one almost expects Grace Kelly and Cary Grant to step out of Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief and into the frame. We follow the adventures and misadventures of Bertrand Beauvois, a self-satisfied lawyer who has been hired to defend a wealthy woman accused of murdering her lover. Provided with a bodyguard to protect him against certain Russian interests, the innocuous Bertrand initially bristles at the constant presence of the tough, no-nonsense Christophe. Shadowed at every moment, Bertrand protests that this is overkill, but Christophe is nothing if not professional – and he has been hired to do a job. It does not take long before Bertrand discovers that Christophe can be very useful, but things take a turn when the mild-mannered lawyer is dazzled by the attentions of Audrey, the stunningly beautiful local television weather girl. Mind and body meet, collide and flirt, but their relationship gets complicated when it is revealed that the now-indispensable Christophe once had a fling with Audrey, and holds a barely concealed grudge.
The situation becomes even more complex, but not before Bertrand discovers a hidden side of himself while under the spell of his gorgeous, uninhibited new lover. But where will this all lead? Fontaine keeps us guessing, the cast romp through the situations and, this being a French romantic comedy, nothing goes as planned.
Anne Fontaine was born in Luxembourg and started her career as a dancer and actor. She made her directorial debut with Les Histoires d'amour finissent mal en général (93), which was awarded France's Prix Jean Vigo in 1993. Her other features are Augustin (95), Nettoyage à sec (97), Augustin, roi du kung-fu (99), Comment j'ai tué mon père(01), Nathalie… (03), Entre ses mains (05), Nouvelle Chance (06) and La Fille de Monaco (08).