New Eve

Catherine Corsini explores the destructive nature of infatuation in the style of new French realism. This is not so much a love story as sex warfare.

Camille (Karin Viard) is independent and single, what her lesbian friends call "a true romantic". She denies this, insisting that love never lasts, or, if it does, leads to babies, mortgages and domesticity. Sex is different - immediate, intense, orgasmic. No lies, no ties.

Stressed and confused, she feels a nervous breakdown coming on. She trips in the street and a bald man in a shabby overcoat helps her to her feet. She is overwhelmed by his kindness. When they meet again at a drinks party, he turns out to be an intellectual, a Socialist and married with children. The film is about Camille's obsession with this man, her passion for him, her need to be loved.

Her feelings are so fierce and conflicting, at times she appears deranged. Viard can look ugly and awkward, or beautiful beyond words. She is remarkable.

Corsini succeeds in conveying the contradictions of Camille, her irresistible attractiveness, the instability of her desire and the impossible demands she puts on those who love her. Women will recognise the symptoms. Men might head for the hills.