THE GIRL FROM MONACO ***

Monaco is like a high priced candy store for adults with expensive tastes.

It has endless numbers of luxury hotels that look like palaces, magnificent gambling casinos, fabulous restaurants, colourful nightclubs, gleaming harbours and no shortage of beautiful people that are driven to immerse themselves in its golden glow.

No wonder the American film star Grace Kelly fled Hollywood and made this her permanent home. Its aristocratic glamour must have suited her admirably.

Into this exotic embarassment of riches steps BERTRAND BEAUVOIS (FABRICE LUCCHINI), who is a passive, unremarkable looking middle aged man. Bertrand is quiet, reserved and very serious. His true personality almost clashes with his soaring reputation as a powerful defence attorney.

He has travelled from his home in Paris to attend to a very important case. A wealthy French woman has been charged with the murder of her lover, who was a Russian mobster. It is up to Bertrand to ensure that she never sees the inside of a jail cell.

Despite his age and intellectual ability, Bertrand has never really understood women or male/female relationships. It’s obvious that he’s suffered some major disappointments in the romance department. As far as he’s concerned, sex ruins everything. He’d be happy to spend time with a lovely companion and to avoid physical intimacy as long as possible.

But women dig him like crazy…

Immediately after the opening credits (which include shots of the breathtaking Monaco in all its glory, along with the marvelous Nat King Cole crooning the song L-O-V-E), you see Bertrand in the beginning stages of a mild makeout session in a public square.

He dithers with the blonde woman he has been caressing. It’s best to take it slow, he tells her. They’ve just met. Knowing all these things about each other can be much too overwhelming. If she comes up to his hotel room that evening, something could happen. Then a definite bond will have formed and then where will be they be?

But his date is clearly unconcerned. She’s ready to roll.

From out of the shadows, a tall, rugged man appears. He has been listening to their conversation from a distance. Bertrand and his date are a little on edge.

Not to worry. The man informs Bertrand that he is his bodyguard.

Bertrand has not requested any assistance of this kind and has no interest in being observed. He tells CHRISTOPHE ABADI (ROSCHDY ZEM) to go. But he refuses to budge.

After being confronted with the fact that Bertrand is in a position where he may need some protection, his date disappears into the night and is never heard from again. Some things, to her mind, are clearly not worth risking your life over.

Bertrand later finds out that the son of the woman he’s defending is the source of this mysterious gift.

Despite his mild manner, he is not afraid of anyone or anything. But Christophe insists that he must do his job.

There is eventually a grudging acceptance…and an odd friendship grows between the two men over time.

Meanwhile, a client who had a brief affair with Bertrand arrives in Monaco. She has left her miserable marriage. Although she hasn’t so much as spoken to Bertrand in months, she informs him that she is here to be with him at long last.

In Bertrand’s mind, that relationship was finished long ago. He doesn’t even want to talk to her. Much less sleep with her. Christophe aids him in sending her away.

But within days of all this romantic turmoil, Bertrand suddenly becomes irresistibly smitten with yet another woman who crosses his path.

He first sees AUDREY VARELLE (LOUISE BOURGOIN) on television doing a weather forecast. When he bumps into her by chance some time later, he can hardly maintain his composure.

Audrey is the classic flamboyant blonde bombshell. She has heat rising out of every pore, voluminous hair and a sweet, flirtatious manner. She is only in her twenties and possessed of a long, lean physique. Consequently, the revealing clothes and postage stamp sized outfits she wears are actually quite flattering.

When she leans in, kisses him and whispers, “Welcome to the rock,” Bertrand is drawn mercilessly under her spell.

A hot (though entirely calculated) seduction is not far off.

Unfortunately, what Bertrand doesn’t realize until he gets much more involved with Audrey is that she is the ultimate narcissist in some highly destructive ways. Although she is a skilled manipulator, technically she is not very bright. But she is exceedingly ambitious.

Audrey is used to men making colossal fools of themselves over her. From the time that she was in grade school, she learned how to turn all of that to her advantage.

Her alluring presence makes men a little dizzy. Audrey does whatever she wants with whomever she wants…and she’s far from discriminating. The words commitment, respect and love have no resonance for her.

Concepts like sensitivity and fidelity are a complete joke, especially when she could be attending another party.

She’s as deep as the kitchen sink. The only person Audrey could ever really care for is herself.

To complicate matters, Christophe is quite the ladies man. He and Audrey were together at one point in the past. He informed Bertrand that he was the one that ended it. But as circumstances progress, it seems apparent that that was not the case.

Christophe becomes increasingly jealous – not only of Bertrand’s romance with Audrey, but with all of the attention that she’s getting from other men (whether she’s sleeping with them or not).

Christophe hides his passionate emotions behind an impenetrable facade. He has never really gotten over Audrey. He also has a great loyalty to Bertrand that almost goes over and above the ordinary cut and dried employer/worker dynamic.

A full blown disaster is looming directly over the horizon. Once the initial events are set in motion, the lives of these three people will never be the same.

ANNE FONTAINE is an exceptionally gifted director and writer. She is a force of nature well worth watching. THE GIRL FROM MONACO starts out lightly amusing and gets progressively darker, more gripping and intense.

The changes in tone are seamless, perfect and elegant. Many seasoned filmmakers couldn’t pull these gradations off. Ms. Fontaine is all ready a remarkable stylist. She is at the top of her tremendous game.

The fantastic cinematography showcases the gorgeousness of this area effectively. Even the most gracious, serene areas have their dangerous spots.

The cast is uniformly excellent. LOUISE BOURGOIN is a particular standout.

Ms. Bourgoin is a superb performer with a very bright future ahead of her. She is extremely good looking and possesses a distracting sensuality. The media is promoting her as the next BRIGITTE BARDOT. But she’s nothing like BB.

Louise does, however, greatly resemble a blonde CAMILLA BELLE – with dashes of RENEE ZELLWEGER and DREA DE MATTEO thrown in.

One of the reasons her performance is so grandly delicious is that you can tell that she understands Audrey.

COMPLETELY.

Audrey doesn’t have a substantial bone in her lithe, lanky body. But Louise’s portrayal possesses unusual depth. That’s the power of exceptional acting.

This film has a haunting, dream like quality to it that will linger for days. It’s a highly regarded French gem in a sea of cinematic fakery.

In the distant future, 2009 will probably be widely acknowledged as the year that both ANNE FONTAINE and LOUISE BOURGOIN came into their own.

Once you experience it you’ll understand why.