We’re used to the twist at the end of a film, but The New Girlfriend has one in the first minute. It prepares you for the story taking an unexpected journey. Based on a Ruth Rendell short story, the title is perfectly true, but not in the way you might think.
The latest film from Ozon stars Romain Duris in an atypical role for a French leading man. At the beginning of the film his character David has lost his wife and is left as a single parent. The film investigates his reactions to this loss, focusing on his relationship with his late wife’s best friend Julia.
Set in a world of large houses, red sports cars and tennis clubs, the film examines how far we are willing to go to help a friend, looks at the effect of lies and ponders the lies we tell ourselves.
Coping with grief can take many forms. Thanks to an early, and very conveniently unlocked door, Julia, played by Anais Demoustier discovers one of David’s methods. She walks in on him trying to calm his baby Louise. To do this he has dressed up in his dead wife’s clothes, which the baby seems to appreciate. But has he done this for the child’s sake or his own?
Duris wears women’s clothes surprisingly well, though his face gives his masculinity away and when the camera pans up to his head it is always a shock. Orzon has fun with Duris’ five o-clock shadow and the huge amount of narcissistic attention required to be a convincing woman.
Historically a man dressed as a woman is enough to make a British audience laugh. Look! a man in a dress! does get wearing, but the film asks questions about the nature of grieving and our own search for happiness that make a viewing worthwhile.
Worth seeing
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