1999 Madeleine

Confirming the promise of Sélect Hôtel, his debut vérité-style examination of Parisian marginals, Laurent Bouhnik's second feature has echoes of Godard in its sympathetic study of a lonely but proud/bold dressmaker, Madeleine (Briole, open and dignified). 'My Life's fucked - but I'm not part of it,' says the alienated, thirty-something woman, in a series of interior monolgues. She embarks on a run Lonely Hearts encounters, observed by with acute but non-judgmental detail. A film of subtle discretion, formal vigour and delight in the still rich humanist-realist cinematic tradition.