Woman Next Door / Read My Lips

WOMAN NEXT DOOR (LA FEMME D’Á CÔTÉ), 1981, Janus Films, 106 min. Dir. François Truffaut. Bernard (Gerard Depardieu) was living happily with his wife Arlette and his son Thomas. One day, a couple, Philippe and Mathilde Bauchard (Fanny Ardant), moves into the next house. This is the accidental reunion of Bernard and Mathilde, who had a passionate love affair years ago. The relationship revives... A somber study of human feelings.

READ MY LIPS, 2001, Magnolia Pictures, 115 min. Dir. Jacques Audiard. Carla (Emmanuelle Devos, winner of the Cesar 2001 Award for Best Actress for her performance here) is an intelligent but lonely and sexually frustrated secretary who suffers from loss of hearing. She hires unsophisticated ex-con Paul (Vincent Cassel) as her assistant, and soon the two start using each other’s particular talents for much more dangerous and criminal enterprises.