Sequins

When young and unmarried supermarket cashier Claire Moutiers (Lola Naymark) decides to keep her pregnancy a secret, she takes medical leave (claiming to have cancer) and later lands a job with local embroiderer Madame Melikian (Ariane Ascaride)--whose son has recently died--and the two women form a strong bond while taking pride and pleasure in their handiwork. The epitome of the art house film, Sequins is uniquely European in style, attitude, and even content: it's impossible to imagine a contemporary American film revolving around something as Old World as a passion for haute couture embroidery. Director Eleonore Faucher tells this story with disarming simplicity, eschewing elaborate staging or fancy camera moves in favor of sparse dialogue delivered by actors who convey their emotions with knowing glances and subtle gestures. Naymark and Ascaride work extraordinarily well together, and Thomas Laroppe is also effective as the guilt-ridden, badly scarred survivor of the accident that killed Melikian's son. A beautifully detailed, life-affirming film, Sequins is recommended. [Note: DVD extras include seven minutes of deleted scenes, six minutes of script excerpts read by costar Ariane Ascaride, a booklet including interviews with director Eleonore Faucher, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a small but winning foreign film.] (E. Hulse)