La Nouvelle Eve

In this, her third feature, Corsini brings a maturity and lightness of touch to an amusing exploration of the complexity of modern relationships and of the search for love and freedom of expression. Camille (Viard) is a feisty, volatile 30-year-old stressed out by her current lifestyle: by day, strife with the kid at the pool where she's a lifeguard, and by night, increasingly unfulfilling sexual encounters with strangers. She seems independent and emotionally self-sufficient; in truth, her life lacks tenderness, which becomes apparent when she's overwhelmed by a gesture from Alexis (Rajot), a man she meets in the street. That he's married and clearly not interested in an affair makes little difference to her and she sets out to win him over. This then, according to Corsini, is 'the new Eve': a woman doing the chasing in a very direct, even quite aggressive, way. Perfectly cast, Viard portrays with verve and energy a character as selfish and contrary as she is endearing, and captures the frustration of a woman struggling to reconcile her need for independence with her need for closeness.