Nelly and Monsieur Arnaud [Blu-ray]

A gentle movie that explores a complex relationship. Understatement at its best.Nelly, played by the beautiful Emmanuelle Beart, is at crossroads of her life -- disillusioned with marital problems and aimless about future. She meets Arnaud, played by Michel Serrault, -- a gentleman, retired judge and businessman, wife separated -- at a cafe through a common friend. He helps her to overcome her debts and she in turn helps him to type his memoirs. Thus their interaction begins. Arnaud is infatuated by her beauty and personality (who wouldn't be?), but he is helpless in expressing that for the fact that he is of more than double-the-age of Nelly. She too is in love with the sophisticated, mature Arnaud but for the same reason as his, she is unable to accept it. She finds that her heart longs for Arnaud when she automatically rejects a live-in relationship proposed by a publisher-friend with whom she was dating and was happy.They try to be and feel that they are happy together, all the time knowing that a complete and defined relationship is impossible. Both of them are tormented by their love for each other. Is it love in the romantic sense? May not be. There is an emotional vacuum in both their lives. And they fill each other very well. She needs someone mature enough to steady her drifting, aimless life and he needs someone to illuminate his dull, boring life. It is not lust. It is not romance. It is not friendship. It is not concern. It is not finding solace. Or is it lust? Is it romance? Is it friendship? Is it concern? Is it finding solace? Frankly, I am at loss trying to comprehend the nature, complexity, depth and layers of their relationship.They know how much each one meant for the other at the time of their parting, when Arnaud's ex-wife takes him for a global tour. Arnaud, collected and withdrawn till then, embraces her passionately. Nelly, composed and passive till then, is shaken and devastated. They know it is coming to an end. The film ends with Arnaud thinking of her and Nelly trying to cope up with her daily life. I hate the ending as much as I love it. Perhaps, it was the appropriate ending. Not all relationships in life are complete; some end abruptly, some never ends.Beart and Serrault are magnificent. I am amazed by her ability to bring about a variety of emotions with subtle facial expressions and effortless motion.

Great movie with excellent acting. Not an American shoot up special effects type. A real movie about real people.

This is a fantastic film!

Excellent movie; trying to find yourself along with trying ti find your complementary partner regardless of age can be frustrating. Shows the Higgs and lows of that experience.

Claude Sautet delivers interesting characters in all his movies and this work is his best. Beart is stunning as a lonely women who leaves her coach-potato husband and then finds work and friendship w/ Mr. Arnoux, a retired judge. She helps him write his memoirs and puts "wind in his sails." Any love felt between Nelly and Mr. Arnaux sneaks up on you and leads to a bittersweet conclusion. This movie gets better each time you watch it.

Emmanuelle Beart can hold your attention but in this film she is a typist for an uninteresting man who is writing his uninteresting memoirs. The challenge is to stay awake while nothing happens

"Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud" is a profound and enriching drama about love, independence, sharing, and separation. It follows a beautiful young woman on the point of separating from her depressed and non-working spouse. She encounters a rich and perceptive older man who offers her a job transcribing his memoirs. Though he emphatically tells her that he wants nothing from her, they grow to love and depend on each other in a non-sexual relationship that brightens their lives. There are many types of sharing and intimacy and the plot takes them both through friends and personal contacts that mean a lot to them, but do not direct their lives. This is an intelligent and rich portrait of human intimacy.

Beautiful film, nicely paced. Poignant relationships throughout, both on the part of Nelly as well as Monsieur Arnaud. A great film.