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VENUS BEAUTY INSTITUTE Send This Review to a Friend
A French import, "Venus Beauty Institute" not only has superb acting by the renowned French star Nathalie Baye, but it is a smartly drawn drama about relationships. The setting is a beauty salon, a perfect metaphor for attention to the exterior of people who are in various ways empty and hurting on the inside. All of the beauty treatments in the world can't solve the interior problems faced by the patrons and the young women who administer to them.
Foremost among them is Angele, a complex role into which Baye plunges herself with the skill that has made her so effective in such films as "The Return of Martin Guerre." A sad background has left her emotionally wounded and unable to connect seriously with men. In addition, she is plagued by guilt as a result of having been responsible for the facially disfiguring injury to the former man in her life. Her way of coping is to sleep around, only to feel rejected and used by the men who bed and abandon her.
Among the others working at the salon is Marie, played by beautiful newcomer Audrey Tautou, who brings a freshness and sweetness to the role as Marie is pursued by an older man who lavishes gifts on her without making sexual demands. Utimately we are privy to a sexual encounter that does occur. It is both erotic and strange, but Marie is on a satisfying course that makes her feel as if she has something to give.
The salon is run by bossy Nadine, played by Bulle Ogier, who centers her life on the business. Other actresses include Mathilde Seigner, who has a colorful role as Samantha, another of the women with problems. The key men add strength to the cast, with Samuel Le Bihan as the ardent suitor determined to win over Angele despite her suspicions and resistance and Jacques Bonnaffe as the scarred husband. I took nostalgic pleasure in the casting of the minor roles of Angele's two aunts, one played by the renowned French actress Micheline Presle, the other by Emmanuelle Riva, who film buffs will remember from her leading role in Alain Resnais's 1959 classic "Hiroshima Mon Amour."
"Venus Beauty Insitute" is astutely written and directed by Tonie Marshall (Presle's daughter), and it is clear that the film has a woman's sensibility. It is doubtful that a male director could have made the film in the way Marshall has, either with respect to the beauty salon setting or her particular take on the women characters. This is not to say that a man can't make deep films about women--look at Ingmar Bergman's work--but this surely stems from a special viewpoint.
There is considerable humor amidst the angst, including scenes involving a blasé customer who turns up wearing nothing underneath her coat and parading around in unabashed nakedness. I also liked the little musical tingle of the bell each time the door opens. It sort of punctuates the story and reminds us of the setting and the revolving human emotions that exist in this meeting ground for the superficial and the complex. "Venus Beauty Institute" has the spark and sparkle of originality. A Lot 47 Films release.
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