Mademoiselle Chambon

The austere but beguiling French romance Mademoiselle Chambon is not only miles removed from Hollywood melodrama, but also bucks the conventions of contemporary French cinema; in fact, this more closely resembles the minimalist ethic of a Brit kitchen-sink-drama master like Mike Leigh or Ken Loach. The quietly budding illicit love between married strong-and-silent-type house-builder Jean (Vincent Lindon) and his son's teacher, the humble, under-confident hobbyist violinist Veronique Chambon (Sandrine Kiberlain), begins innocently and inconspicuously enough with Veronique asking Jean to speak to her class about his construction trade. But soon Jean finds himself at Veronique's home, fixing a drafty window and listening to her play a tune on the violin. From here, a subtle magnetism slowly brings the two tantalizingly closer together until Jean is finally forced into some intense soul-searching that suddenly puts him on the brink of a climactic life choice. Like a great musical composer, director Stephane Brize uses silence just as artfully as he does sound, letting a character's physiognomy express longings that dialogue can't always articulate. Highly recommended. (M. Sandlin)