Furthermore, they are very creative when it comes to putting together plots that investigate the mysteries of sex, such as the 1989 film Too Beautiful for You, which is about a man who dumped his pretty wife for an average-looking woman. The film asks many questions: Why did he do this? Is love so unpredictable? Do we have a choice when it comes to love? What is the meaning of sex?
The latest French film to explore this troubling territory is L'Ennui, by CĂ©dric Kahn. Like Too Beautiful for You, the story is about a man (Charles Berling) who breaks up with his beautiful wife, and after six months of celibacy, falls in love with a very ordinary 17-year-old girl (Arielle Dombasle). Though her enormous appetite for sex killed her last lover -- a poor and mediocre painter -- she is spectacular neither in bed nor appearance.
The man, a philosopher, doesn't understand his (and others') obsession with this simple and zaftig girl, so he starts to ask her questions about her desires, motives, and intimate thoughts -- anything that might throw light on the nature of his all-consuming fascination. At first, his search for answers is amusing; but after an hour or so of asking the same questions over and over again, it starts to get boring. Clearly, there are no answers. We know this, his wife (whom he confides in about his puzzling affair) knows this, the girl knows this -- everyone knows this except the brainy philosopher.
Though this film is not great, and in fact is tedious at times, it is still worth watching, because only the French can make such a film: a film completely obsessed with sex.
