Country: France
Movie Review: I was never an admirer of Jean Claude Brisseau’s movies, and “The Girl From Nowhere” still didn’t exceed my expectations. Brisseau himself plays the main character, Michel, a retired math professor whose true passions are cinema and philosophy. One day he sees a girl being spanked by a man in the stairs of his apartment building. Letting this homeless drifter named Dora (Virginie Legeay) stay with him until she recovers, will lead to contentment, unusual feelings, and illusions. While Michel talks about an unfinished book, his deceased wife, and philosophical theories about life and religion, Dora shows a tendency for being inquisitive, self-assured, and to have special abilities to deal with the supernatural. As usual in Brisseau’s works, all the conversations and scenes carry a sexual tension; only this time he added a mystic factor that revealed to be the best aspect in the film. The ghosts' spooky appearances were one of the few things worthy of admiration. As for the rest, “The Girl From Nowhere” was never capable to achieve successfully its artistic pretensions, losing itself in devised conversations given in literate, philosophical, or nostalgic forms. All these aspects were carried out with inexpressive performances and a sense of fakeness in the most of its scenes. The film ended up winning the Golden Leopard at Locarno Film Fest.
