Starring Charlotte Rampling, Ludivine Sagnier and Charles Dance
Written by Francois Ozon and Emmanuele Bernheim
Directed by Francois Ozon
France 2003
Running time 103 minutes
Sarah Morton is a successful English detective author suffering from writers block. When John Bosload her publisher suggests she stay in his house in France Sarah takes him up on the offer. Once there she meets Julie, who claims to be John’s daughter and finds herself caught up in the younger woman’s promiscuous love life. A competition of personalities develops between the two and then one night things appear to go terribly wrong…
This mystery thriller is a sexy, intriguing whodunnit with shades of Hitchcock and a subtle and ambiguous script. Its director Francois Ozon often displays a sharp satirical edge and his films frequently reveal a freewheeling view of human relationships. Playing Sarah is Charlotte Rampling, one of the most unusual and enigmatic of British actresses. She first achieved fame (and some considerable notoriety) playing opposite Dirk Bogarde in The Night Porter. In that film she portrayed a former concentration camp inmate who years later revisits a relationship with one of her captors.
After her cinema career declined in the 1990s Rampling credits Ozon with reviving her fortunes when he cast her in his film Sous Le Sable in 2000. Since then she has appeared in a number of his movies including his most recent - Jeune et Jolie.
