La Lectrice [The Reader] **** (1988, Miou-Miou, Régis Royer, María Casarès, Patrick Chesnais, Pierre Dux) – Classic Movie Review 11,528

Director Michel Deville’s 1988 French drama La Lectrice [The Reader] stars Miou-Miou, who delights as Constance, a young French woman hiring her services as a reader of books (La Lectrice) to people who tend to be more interested in her than the spoken word.

Constance is reading to her boyfriend a book called La Lectrice, in which the main character Marie reads literature to others for a living. Constance imagines herself as Marie and the film weaves between their stories.

Marie’s clients include a Marxist general’s widow (María Casarès), a nervous businessman (Patrick Chesnais), a retired magistrate (Pierre Dux), a handicapped teenage boy and her professor (Simon Eine).

The witty script, written by director Deville and his wife Rosalinde Deville, taken from Raymonde Jean’s book, is wrapped around with pretty filming in Arles.

It won the 1988 Louis Delluc Prize, and was nominated for nine César Awards including Best Supporting Actor, which was won by Patrick Chesnais as the sexually frustrated businessman.

Books read include The Lover by Marguerite Duras and the works of Marquis de Sade.

Also in the cast are Régis Royer, Christian Ruché, Marianne Denicourt, Charlotte Farran, Patrick Chesnais, Brigitte Catillon and Maria Casarès.

Michel Deville turned 90 on 13 April 2021. His most recent film is The Art of Breaking Up (2005). La Lectrice [The Reader] (1988) was probably his biggest success. It won the Louis Delluc Prize for Best Film and so did his 1968 film Benjamin.

The cast are Miou-Miou as Constance / Marie, Régis Royer as Éric, María Casarès as The General’s widow, Patrick Chesnais as The CEO, Pierre Dux as Magistrate, Christian Ruché as Jean / Philippe, Brigitte Catillon as Éric’s mother, Marianne Denicourt as Bella B, Charlotte Farran as Coralie, Clotilde de Bayser as Coralie’s mother, Jean-Luc Boutté as The Inspector, Simon Eine as The professor, Maria de Medeiros as the nurse, André Wilms as the man of the Saint-Landry street, Sylvie Laporte as Françoise, and Léo Campion as the grandfather.

Miou-Miou (born Sylvette Herry on 22 February 1950) is a 10-time César Award nominee, and won for Best Actress for the 1979 film La Dérobade [Memoirs of a French Whore].

Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,528

Link to Derek Winnert’s home page for more reviews: http://derekwinnert.com/