Delicacy

Again, France wrests the romantic comedy genre from Hollywood accountants in a imaginative take on love and loss with a cast of actors that revolve around the charming Audrey Tautou in "Delicacy." A wonderfully romantic opening captures the depth and feeling of "Nathalie" as she shares her love-glow of engagement with her immediate family and co-workers. What she does when her handsome beau dies off-camera becomes the weight of the comedy. With an exuberant glow of engagement shared by her family and co-workers, her fiancee dies off camera. Her life is upturned and suspended. However, Nathalie battles the office gossip, an obvious swipe at Hollywood films or Ann Landers psychology by bestowing herself upon an awkward Swedish co-worker. In order to raise her spirits she does the same for this ordinary-looking chap with surprising results in her own life. Although this was an unusual step for such a naturally gorgeous creature to take, a career risk for her to abandon other good-looking hopefuls as well, perhaps it was about time to give hope to the underdogs of the real world. Together, they do make a workable couple. But I was let down in the final 10 minutes that resolved this romantic fantasy in a hide-and-seek play, that made me feel I was watching "Roman Holiday" for the 10th time where, instead of Audrey Hepburn going off with Gregory Peck, she chose Eddie Albert instead. The dream sequence could have been handled only by a Bergman. To me, it felt like an almost-complete romance with a patch of another story, leaving the office politics, sexual harassment possibilities dangling.

This movie never overcomes its ambivalence of a serious consequential drama or spoof comedy. It does keep it core of existentialism never straying from remaining in the here and now. The ambivalence is disconcerting and frustratingly distracting. There are long stretches of introspection regarding angst and loss then there is a bump and the parody begins anew. It is almost as if the director decides to laugh at the audience for taking falling in love so seriously; but then the following scenes give a rebirth to the human condition of attraction, delight and imagining the possibilities. There is an unmasking of romance and yet a renewal in its credo of unifying with another human in passionate consumption. As frustrating as it is to get a handle on the thematic pathway, Audrey Tautou as the mid level executive stuck in her dispassionate pursuit of simply getting through life is simply marvelous. The plot, even though the movie is based on a novel, is very close to the Good Girl with Jennifer Anniston playing a woman on the opposite financial spectrum. Anniston did a fantastic job in a very serious movie about low income existence whereas Tautou move through her character's disintegration and reintegration to normalcy with a severely powerful presentation that it is easily forgotten this was Amélie in all her foolish joyances. Her romantic interest in the movie moves between buffoon and hero. The role is too comedic and stereotypical but in the hills and valleys of being enamored such is the goofiness of the human mind; we stumble and bumble until something works. The movie never quite explains the attraction as to not insult the audience intelligence. This is gratifying viewing. It is also almost too fairy tale.

This French delicacy proves you don't need an enormous budget to craft a movie that is beautiful, clever and magical. I thoroughly enjoyed this from start to picture-perfect finish. While tragedy strikes early on, as the story develops you begin to feel that if you can live in the present (at least some of the time) and stay true to your ideals and your heart, life will continue to surprise and delight! Audrey Tautou once again shows she's way more than just a pretty face - her emotions are raw and her persona relatable. I love that the film eschewed romcom conventions and celebrated the wisdom of appreciating goodness in others beyond a fancy façade. Francois Damiens is a revelation. Even when flying below the radar, his comical presence elevates every scene he's in. As the shy Swedish dumpling, it's impossible not to fall in love with him. In real life, seemingly opposite types attract now and again. Just as Markus could be spellbound by Nathalie, I found it as believable that she would be floored by his humility and humour and his overall dorky ways. If more people took their approach to relationships, it'd be a much happier world. I found the characterization of office life hilarious - and realistic in that workplace relations can be fraught with all kinds of drama and must be navigated delicately. The musical selections are the perfect accompaniment to this tale of rediscovering your joie de vivre after a great loss. So many subtly funny moments. Hooray for the underdogs. Hooray for storytelling that doesn't overcompensate with commercial gimmicks. This is a one-of-a-kind film that re-affirms your appreciation for both the brevity of life and seizing the golden opportunities - no matter what anybody else thinks - while you can.

I loved everything about this film, the characters, story line, acting, and background detail. This makes a lovely companion to my other favourite Audrey Tautou love stories: 'Amélie' and 'A Very Long Engagement'. I enjoyed this film very much.

This is another great effort by Cohen films to bring international cinema to this side of the pond. It is a light drama/romance/comedy that is entertaining and cute.The blu-ray delivers a remarkable image with a 1080p transfer encoded AVC. The soundtrack is DTS HD MA and very clear.Highly recommended as are most Cohen Films blu-ray releases!

Les acteurs n’articulent pasOn comprend rien de ce qu’ils racontent

Delicacy is a beautifully told love story, it is a film about loves - parents and grandparents, friends and colleagues, wives and widows.Audrey Tautou, Pio Marmai and François Damiens - the actors in the roles of the main love stories are superb, as are all of the supporting cast including Ariane Ascaride in the role of La mere de Nathalie. The film wouldn't be what it is without the brilliant part that François Damiens plays and yet he doesn't make an appearance for the first half-an-hour or so of the film.The story develops in a very realistic way and is all the better for it. The humour in the film is subtle gentle and realistic.The film is based on the best selling novel La Délicatesse by David Foenkinos and is directed by the author, so presumably this is the image the author wanted us to envisage from the written page.I would be hard pushed to find anything to fault about this film. The acting, the directing, the cinematography, the music - all work to make a really beautiful film.The extras on the DVD include Bloopers, Deleted Scenes and a Trailer.An album called Franky Knight by Emilie Simon, is the soundtrack to the film.Ariane Ascaride has a minor role as the mother of Audrey Tautou's character, I watched her, in a leading role in the film  A Common Thread [DVD ]recently where she played the part of a woman who had lost her son in a motorbike accident, so it was interesting to see her in the role of a mother of a bereaved daughter, two very different films, but I would recommend them to anyone who appreciates Non-Hollywood films. A Common Thread [DVD

Audrey Tautou stars as a beautiful lady grieving for her loss of husband.She appears ugly and emerges at the same time as stunningly beautiful.This is cracking my heart. It is subtle, funny. Watch the contrasts in people, circumstances and why love is blind, going for results...Her circumstances, work family etc. give an excellent entourage where she finds what she misses, true love.It seems unlikely for her to love the big Swedish man, but hey, she was desperate, no?Psycho projection, any man could imagine to reach the heart of "Nathalie". Just imagining is part of watching this movieSuch a beautiful moving film! Delicacy, tender tasteful, a girl to go for.