The Names of Love

Arthur Martin (Jacques Gamblin) is a middle-aged scientist who tangles with an attractive young slacker named Baya (Sara Forestier) in Michel Leclerc's sociopolitical screwball French comedy. While Martin is part Jewish (his mother was a Holocaust survivor), Baya is part Algerian (her father survived the French-Algerian War). After Baya meets Arthur, she assumes he wants to sleep with her, since every other man does, but that isn't his style. Her aggressiveness smacks of desperation, but she acknowledges that she was molested as a child, which contributes to her paradoxical belief that it's better to plunge into carnal relations than hold back. Arthur ultimately does end up having sex with Baya, but he doesn't find out until afterward that she beds fascists in order to convert them. Arthur is hardly a right-winger, but that doesn't change Baya's desire to encourage him to embrace his culture. New problems eventually arise when the couple's equally mismatched parents meet, leading Arthur to wonder if his life wasn't better pre-Baya. Offering a sly commentary on prejudice in contemporary multicultural France, this is recommended. [Note: DVD extras include the short film “I Could Have Been a Hooker” by writer Baya Kasmi, deleted scenes (17 min.), a “making-of” featurette (12 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a winning film.] (K. Fennessy)