Lady J

In eighteenth century France, an affair begins between the widowed Madame de La Pommeraye and the celebrated libertine Marquis des Arcis. When he loses interest and withdraws, she constructs a long and cold-blooded revenge, using an impoverished mother and daughter to lead him as far as marriage. Emmanuel Mouret adapted an episode from Diderot's Jacques the Fatalist and preserved the language: the characters speak in long, correct and extremely courteous sentences, and all the violence lives inside that courtesy. Cécile de France and Édouard Baer lead. The camera moves little and the scenes take place in gardens and drawing rooms. The moral verdict is left to the viewer. Who it is for: viewers who like period film and French cinema built on dialogue. Who it is not for: anyone wanting incident and pace, since this is conversation from start to finish.