The New Girlfriend

The New Girlfriend (15)

France 2015  104 mins  Dir: Francois Ozon  Starring: Romain Duris, Anaïs Demoustier, Raphaël Personnaz, Isild Le Besco

In this country, the late Ruth Rendell tended to be pigeonholed as a creator of those cosy detective dramas that infest our TV schedules. But the Europeans recognised that there was a lot more to Rendell than Inspector Wexford. Her darker stories have been adapted by the likes of Claude Chabrol (La Ceremonie, The Bridesmaid), Pedro Almodovar (Live Flesh) and Claude Miller (Alias Betty). Now openly gay Swimming Pool and In the House director Francois Ozon tackles Rendell’s 1985 short story, The New Girlfriend. The result is a blend of absurdist comedy, psychological melodrama and sexual/gender mutability that’s closest in spirit to early Almodovar, without all the self-conscious transgression (though the scene where Anaïs Demoustier waxes Romain Duris’s arse hair gets pretty close). Be warned that it’s not really possible to discuss the film without revealing a twist that occurs at the ten minute mark. If you think that counts as a spoiler, read no further and don’t watch the trailer.

The fluidly directed first eight minutes condense an entire intense female friendship in a way that recalls the Pixar classic, Up. Ozon introduces Laura and Claire as inseparable best friends from childhood (signified, as usual, by sensual hair-brushing), then whisks us through first boyfriends, break-ups, marriage and childbirth, before Laura succumbs to a cruel illness and carks it. In an emotional speech at her funeral, Claire (Demoustier), who has always regarded Laura with undisguised longing, vows tearfully to help her bereaved husband David (Duris) as he raises the couple’s baby daughter. When she pitches up at his home one day, she finds the door unlocked, lets herself in and is shocked to see David bottle-feeding the little girl in drag. Once Claire gets over her initial judgemental response to David’s ‘perversion’, however, she finds herself intrigued and drawn into his secret life. He insists that he’s not gay, that Laura knew about his cross-dressing, and that he finds wearing her clothes a comfort after her death. Before long, Claire is telling little white lies to her distracted hubby Gilles (Personnaz) as she ventures out with her new friend ‘Virginia’, who bears a faintly alarming resemblance to Tracey Emin from certain angles.

Supremely talented Duris gets the showiest role, gliding effortlessly between David and Virginia, and skilfully exploring the pain and confusion beneath that adopted ‘jolly trannie’ persona. Anaïs Demoustier has no such recourse to the dressing-up box – indeed, Claire’s attire is positively asexual next to that of the glamorous Virginia. But her character’s emotional journey is the most intriguing, as Claire’s sublimated desire for Laura is transferred to Virginia, her confusion being manifested in the form of troubling sexual dreams and fantasies. These exceptional performances help to keep the film on track when it ventures down some outlandish by-ways as it skips friskily towards a suitably ambiguous ending.