Place Vendome

Starring:Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Pierre Bacri, Emmanuelle Seigner, Jacques Dutronc, Bernard Fresson, FranÃ§ois BerlÃ©and, Dragan Nikolic, Otto Tausig, LÃ¡szlÃ³ SzabÃ³, Elisabeth Commelin, Philippe ClÃ©venot, Malik Zidi, Eric Ruf, Nidal Al-Askhar, Larry Lamb, Julian Fellowes, Michael Culkin, Nick Ellsworth, Antoine Blanquefort, Coralie Seyrig
Director: Nicole Garcia
Studio: Fox Lorber
Product Type: DVD

Description

Catherine Deneuve delivers an award-winning performance as Marianne, the alcoholic wife of a famous diamond jeweler who must pick up the pieces of her broken life when her husband suddenly commits suicide.

Customer Reviews:

Diamonds and Memories.......2005-06-24

Catherine Deneuve gives one of her finest performances in this elegantly crafted film from director Nicole Garcia. It is beautifully shot in the diamond district of France, even the rain glistening on the sidewalks like fine jewels. This is a complex film of intrigue and personal demons in a world where people love each other a little and use each other a lot, cutting the heart like a diamond, in a swift, irreversible stroke.

Marianne (Catherine Deneuve) is the alcoholic wife of a respected jeweler who is only brought out on special occasions, spending most of her life in a rehab for the wealthy which is her primary home. She is forced to pull herself together when her husband Vincent Malivert kills himself, leaving behind a fortune in diamonds that have a questionable history. When she attempts to find a buyer for them she discovers the cache was stolen in its uncut form from the Russian Mafia. As the intrigue escalates, Marianne's own past in the world of diamond dealers is revealed, including the betrayel which blacklisted her as a jewel dealer and drove her to the bottle.

She will be forced to confront the demons in her past when her betrayer and his new protege come into the picture. Stunning beauty Emmanuelle Seigner has a pivotal role as the mirror image of Marianne 20 years before, unaware that history may be repeating itself. Marianne will have to choose between revenge and redemption to discover if love really does mean getting lied to and betrayed.

Deneuve, one of the world's finest actersses and greatest beauties, lets her hair down and imbues her character with a subtle vulnerability that won her Best Actress honors at the Venice Film Festival. Had the film been a little less foreign and a bit more flashy, she could easily have garnered an Oscar as well.

If you like foreign films, or Catherine Deneuve, or both, this is definitely one you'll want to add to your collection.

It's Catherine Deneuve's Film, And She's Excellent.......2005-05-30

Marianne Malivert (Catherine Deneuve) has been married for 18 loveless years to the owner of a famous, stylish Parisian jewelry store. He saved her from jail when she was betrayed by a lover and was caught with stolen jewels that belonged to Malivert. At one time, Marianne knew diamonds and the diamond trade. Now, she's an alcoholic who spends much time in clinics and occasionally time with her husband at his dinner parties for clients. Then one day her husband shows her five perfectly cut diamonds and tells them they are his, not the store's, and he puts them away. Then later he deliberately drives his car into a truck and kills himself. Marianne. barely sober, discovers the store is close to bankruptcy, that the diamonds may be stolen, that her brother-in-law wants the diamonds and her out, that a beautiful assistant in the shop (who also was her husband's mistress) has an agenda of her own that includes the jewel thief who betrayed Marianne years ago. As Marianne gradually focuses on the diamonds, her interest in life begins to revive. She was good in the trade at one time, and sets out to find a buyer. She learns the word has spread that the diamonds may be stolen, that the Russian mafia may be involved, and that her old lover has re-entered her world.

This movie starts as a strong, character-driven study of Marianne Malivert. It gradually moves toward becoming a thriller, but has the good sense not to move too far in that direction. The pleasure in the movie is the world weary sophistication of the characters, the look into the workings of the diamond business, the intertwined relationships of the main characters, and the struggle of Marianne to reassert herself. This is Catherine Deneuve's film and she is excellent. At the time this movie was made she was 56 and had been a major star for 34 years. She really is a world class actress. The two male leads, Jean-Pierre Bactri, as the boyfriend of the shop assistant who is dropped by her but finds himself drawn to Marianne, and Jacques Dutronc, as the former lover who now is still a thief and con artist but is weary to his bones, are excellent, too.

This movie may not be for everyone. It takes a steady, thoughtful pace. It's all about the characters, especially Marianne. The look of the film often is dark. The conclusion is not exactly happy and not exactly sad. It's a film, in my opinion, which is well worth watching. The DVD picture is just fine and the yellow subtitles are very easy to read.

ODDLY GOOD.......2004-11-13

Like some have pointed out, this isn't much of a thriller and there is just a bit of mystery(the cause of her alcoholism). Oddly, the movie is engaging. Oddly, the movie doesn't drag. Oddly, this movie works.

ok melodrama.......2004-04-15

Maybe it's just me misled by the movie descrption of some kind of mistery. This movie has nothing to do with mistery even though stolen diamonds play important role in its plot. It's rather a melodrama about love that can survive anything, including betrayal. Catherine Deneuve is very very good but it was just too slow for me. I believe that this movie was intended to have some suspense to it, which is totally absent. It's not so bad though that a real fan of french movies cannot still enjoy it.

Fun French romantic thriller centered around the jewel trade.......2002-12-23

This is one of those French film that is really about the complexities of interaction between characters and their interactions with the story and milieu that surrounds them. The milieu here is the fine jewelry trade, about as elite and luxurious as you can get and, as a result, prone to intrigue and corruption. Caught in the vortex is Catherine Deneuve as the alcoholic wife of the head of the prestigious house of Malivert. Her husband and brother-in-law have gotten themselves involved in trading stolen jewels which could send them to jail and destroy their house. When Deneuve's husband commits suicide by driving himself into a logging truck, Deneuve has to sobber up a bit and contemplate a few precious diamonds that he spoke to her about the day before. Turns out that Deneuve's character has a past and it involves the original distributor of the stolen gems, a man who left her high and dry years before. The characters and setting make for a sumptuous tale punctuated with real romantic, nostalgic and regretful, longing, the obligatory chills of a thriller and fine acting. This is the perfect example of the kind of emotionally centered yet still genre formulaic film the French do so well. It's fun.

Average customer rating:

Diamonds and Memories
It's Catherine Deneuve's Film, And She's Excellent
ODDLY GOOD
ok melodrama
Fun French romantic thriller centered around the jewel trade

Place Vendôme [Region 2]
Starring: Catherine Deneuve , Jean-Pierre Bacri , Emmanuelle Seigner , Jacques Dutronc , and Bernard Fresson
Director: Nicole Garcia
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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