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Venus Beauty Institute is a clumsy and unremarkable French film that's either a run-of-the-mill chick flick, a caustic look at women's obsession with beauty, or both. Its main character is a desperate, middle-aged woman who loves to strike up conversations with strangers, hoping they'll take her to bed (or to their car, if there isn't a bed close by). Maybe I missed the boat on this one, being a 30-year-old abstinent male loner, so take the following with a grain of salt.
Angèle (Nathalie Baye, An Affair of Love) works in a Parisian beauty shop, where she provides facials, manicures and massages to those ravaged by both age and gravity. She's twice as old as her co-workers, doesn't wear makeup, hates love and is terrified of relationships because of something that happened to her parents when she was a child. But Angèle still loves sex and will spread for just about anyone after a couple of drinks.
It comes as no surprise when Angèle, who is used to stalking her own sexual prey, is turned off when a man approaches her with romantic aspirations of his own. Antoine (Samuel Le Bihan) is a sculptor who professes his undying love for Angèle, despite having a fiancée. Even though he's probably half her age, Antoine is relentless in his pursuit of Angèle, no matter how little interest she shows in him. Because this is a movie, you know his persistence will eventually pay off (in real life, she'd get a restraining order and he'd be in jail).
As Angèle's relationship with Antoine plays out, we are also introduced to her beauty shop co-workers and the wacky customers attendant thereto. Everyone talks about looking young and beautiful, but they're all just as emotionally broken as Angèle in one way or another. The shop sells various lotions, balms and ointments, and has an irritating door chime that, at first, made it seem like something magical was about to happen on the screen (it didn't...and then rings about 75 more times). The not-so-subtle message here is that people can shell out hundreds of francs for an expensive salve to mask their exterior flaws, but it won't do a damn thing to cover up the fact they're damaged on the inside.
Though Venus' ending is somewhat visually pleasing (sparks fly - literally) and Baye does a good job playing the unhappy lead desperately clinging to her youth, the film failed to strike an emotional chord. It is refreshing to see a movie that features women (both in front of and behind the camera) refrains from bashing all men, like pictures of this ilk tend to do. Baye is 52 in real life, but can easily pass for Angèle's early 40s.
Venus was written and directed by French actress Tonie Marshall, who crams the film's beauty shop scenes full of colorful pastels. She adds some unique camera angles and there are several interestingly edited segments, but other than that and Baye's standout performance, there just isn't much to gush about. Venus did sweep through the 2000 César Awards (the French version of the Oscars) like Ted Kennedy through happy hour, winning trophies for Best Film, Director and Screenplay.
1:51 - R for nudity and adult language
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