Yvonne's Perfume

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SIMAS C @simas_eros 6 days ago superbly directed by Patrice Leconte and based on Patrick Modiano’s novel Villa Triste, this is above all an erotic tale of restraint, contemplation and detail. Beautifully cast, it follows the memories of a young man escaping the war who, in the late 1950s on the Franco-Swiss border, falls for a model and aspiring actress. Posing as a count, he and Yvonne live a mutual fantasy, with eroticism latent in the image they create of each other, in the surrounding landscape and in the social settings where they meet. Delicious details, such as an elegance contest, and the way Yvonne’s beauty is contemplated by the protagonist’s fascinated, almost disbelieving gaze, give the film a romantic density balanced by growing nostalgia and bitterness, especially in her gay uncle, keen to assert himself as he faces her fleeting affair with a stranger. Without a memorable story, it is still a gorgeous, sublimely erotic film whose moments linger intensely. See more Guy P @RT69639196 Jan 27, 2026 Superb film, superbly shot by Leconte with exceptional acting by Sandra Majani and the team. My favourite film of all time. See more Jul 29, 2012 I love films by Patrice Leconte. See more Nov 26, 2011 Pretentious love story with extremely unlikable characters. This is basically the story of a relationship where the two lovers connect on a strictly physical level; it seems that anything more meaningful only disrupts the relationship and leads to the inexorable breakup. I didn't care for the superiority complex of the main characters nor I understood the character of the doctor. I kept watching in case any answers come up but only one question appeared in my head: "What was the point of this film?" See more May 22, 2010 Following director Laconte's trail led here, to this intriguing tale of two summer lovers, wrapped in luminous cinematography, generously filled with gorgeous soft-erotica, set against a 1950s provincial Swiss lake-resort town where Bourgeois idle away within their closed, elegant world. Aspiration to acceptance into such aristocratic circles drives the pretensions of the three main characters, each disguising a baser background. Girardot, avoiding poverty and French conscription, lives frugally in a boarding house but mingles elsewhere as a monied Russian Count. He's instantly smitten when snapped right up by the utterly mesmerizing Yvonne (Majani). Looking well-bred, she's truly a woman kept -by an elderly man of means (Marielle) who, though gay, is fully enamored by her. As with many quality French films, subtle acting here is the slow reveal. Majani's skills in seduction let Marielle put behind him the homosexuality he despises in himself. Seeing Majani toting Girardot as replacement SugarDaddy, Marielle curses her for it (via double-entendre) and sets upon self-destructive behaviors, insulting the gays and Bourgeois who would be his sad future without her. Yet age-wise Marielle knows to cherish his waning moments with Majani - and to mentor Girardot, far too inexperienced to comprehend the ruin an obsession with Majani may bring. There's many purposely unanswered mysteries about the trio's pasts, but the more intriguing mysteries here are what true emotions Majani feels now - and what future awaits emotionally-enslaved Marielle and Girardot, who can know only the scent that lingers of this woman, but not truly know the woman herself. Yet another mystery is that, in real life, the here-captivating Majani disappeared from public view; Googling reveals nothing factual of her, except this role. Superlative transfer quality of outstanding, almost dream-like, cinematography and set-pieces throughout. RECOMMENDATION: Intelligent, sexy, emotional, lush-viewing. As such, well recommended. See more Mar 4, 2010 Very atmospheric chronicle of three people lazying around the elegant french Riviera at the end of the 50's. The art direction is so sumptous that it feels like a 1900 set and like in most of Leconte movies, everything is never as normal as it seems... See more Read all reviews

Yvonne's Perfume

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