‘The New Eve’ Embarks on Voyage of Self-Discovery

When the headstrong heroine of the shrewd romantic comedy “The NewEve” says she believes in always speaking the truth, she isn’t kidding. Karin Viard’s Camille is an attractive Parisian perhaps in her mid-20s who works as a lifeguard during the day and parties hard at night. Camille tends to go too far, drinking too much, staying out too late and getting sick as a result. Self-absorbed and reckless, she is a frequent pain in the neck to her friends, but she is also bright and vivacious.

One day in the street, a man, Alexis (Pierre-Loup Rajot), notices she is clearly unwell and asks if he can help her. This simple act of human kindness has more of an impact upon her than any of her countless casual affairs. When she meets him again at her brother’s home, she knows she has fallen in love as never before.

Alexis is trim, 40-ish, bald, neither handsome nor homely but clearly sensitive and intelligent. He is a Socialist Party official, and in no time Camille is attending party meetings, where she is not shy about speaking up--even when she has no idea what she’s talking about. Alexis finds her amusing and one evening invites her to his apartment for a warm beverage. Anticipating romance, Camille is shocked to discover that he is married to an elegant and attractive economics professor (Catherine Frot) and has two small daughters.

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Devastated but unable to resist becoming a part of Alexis’ life, Camille declares her love for him. Director Catherine Corsini and her co-writer Marc Syrigas have well spent nearly half of their film getting to this point, introducing us into Camille’s world, that of the single, free-spirited modern woman--the “New Eve.”

Camille can be exasperating, but she’s also engaging in her determination to be her own person and to place honesty before politeness. Alexis is much lower-key but is capable of candor, pointing out to Camille that she puts people down without committing herself to anything, pushing herself too far so that she becomes ill and has to be taken care of by friends, and loves their attention.

So begins Camille’s journey of self-discovery, sometimes funny, more often painful--which Corsini suggests is what all adults must be prepared to undergo if they are to be truly liberated and responsible for their lives.

Viard, who won a best actress Cesar for the not-yet-arrived “Haut Les Coeurs” (“Chin-Up”), meets the challenge of playing Camille wholeheartedly and without playing for undue sympathy. Rajot’s Alexis is persuasive as a mature man surprised to discover he may not know himself as well as he thought, and Frot is spot-on as a wife who may feel a little too secure in her marriage.

Husky Sergi Lopez, so good as the traveling shoe salesman in Manuel Poirier’s memorable “Western,” plays Alexis’ truck-driver friend, who sees himself as Camille’s Mr. Right. Mireille Roussel and Nozha Khouadra play a lesbian couple, Camille’s best friends, a source of stability in her life.

“The New Eve” is a beautiful film that flows with a luminous ease and assurance.

* Unrated. Times guidelines: adult themes and situations.

‘The New Eve’

(La Nouvelle Eve)

Karin Viard: Camille

Pierre-Loup Rajot: Alexis

Catherine Frot: Isabelle

Sergi Lopez: Ben

A Sceneries Distribution release. Director Catherine Corsini. Producer Paulo Branco. Screenplay Corsini, Marc Syrigas. Cinematographer Agnes Godard. Editor Sabine Mamou. Costumes Anne Schotte. Production designer Solange Zeitoun. In French, with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour, 34 minutes.

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