Word: venusized
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Nathalie Baye, 40 and radiant, plays Angele, a stylist at the Venus Beauty Institute. Her marriage has ended bitterly, and perhaps for that reason (mystery, mystery) her ex's face is permanently scarred. Since her divorce, Angele has energetically pursued partners for commitment-free sex and, more importantly, dinner. One of these flings goes sour in the train station where Antoine first sees...
...film is mostly confined to the Venus Beauty Institute, whose glass storefront is used to great cinematographic advantage. Angele dispenses creams, ointments, and depilatories while enduring the quirky vanities of clients. For help she has pink-uniformed co-workers: Marie (Audrey Tautou), at twenty and lovely, is the target of an elderly widow's special attention, Samantha (Mathilde Seigner) attempts suicide under the duress of heavy foreshadowing. But these characters are like snapshots, brief though believable portraits. Other than Angele, the film's characters are never confusing enough to be understood...
...approximately) "that's what I like about you." It's more than just the jitters: she seems to sense some palpable, immediate danger, like hit men with flamethrowers. It's like you missed a scene that went "you have twenty minutes to get the money, Angele, or the Venus Beauty Institute will burn!" Her impatience becomes endearing when directed at her impossible customers, like Madame Buisse, who struts around Paris in nothing but a trenchcoat which she removes whenever possible. When a young French hooligan solicits Marie (pretty, seeing the widower) for "the finishing touches," Angele bluntly shows...
...this I mean the only Frenchy love movie I've ever seen, about a woman who jumps into the river after going to buy yogurt.) Anna Karenina contains real observations about what people can do to one another. I don't think the same can be said for Venus Beauty. We never quite know why most of it's characters do things, but at least they aren't stereotypes, and at least they're enjoyable to watch...
...VENUS BEAUTY INSTITUTE...