This is one of the best works by Ozon. He does a brilliant job in showing the process of a person in transition, the gradual changes, the high points and key moments. Romain Duris (David/Virginia) gives a stunning and nuanced performance of a man in grief after the death of his wife at a young age. In mourning and in taking care of his 6-month-old daughter Laura, he finds a part of himself awakened and he begins to express his desire to identify as a woman. He goes through many of the usual stages - dressing at home, going out for shopping, the exhilaration of being first identified as a woman etc. Before a culminating moment in the film, Virginia texts to friend Claire "Je suis une femme" (I am a woman)- meaning that the transformation in her mind is complete. We also can fully understand the ups and downs Claire goes through in being in this fully new situation. These aspects of the film are great.Ozon then goes a bit off of the established path. He makes it important to understand that David does not identify as gay, a point often lost in portrayals of transgender individuals (sexual identity does not equal sexual orientation). We then see that there is a dimension for both Romain/Claire of creating a type of ersatz-Laura. Through Virginia, that deep friendship and perhaps even latent sexual desire can be acted upon. Again, so far so good.I have 2 problems with the film. First, this is a portrayal of a transgender person in a very rarified environment, a bit like The Danish Girl. Sure, you don't need every film about a trans person to be beaten and constantly tormented to illustrate the hardships which trans people have to endure but this film is almost devoid of all of this. Virginia can go out to the family manner house and to the near-by accepting LGBT nightclub. Aside from some odd looks, we see nothing of issues with the outside world. What happens when David goes back to work? In the beginning of the film, he argues that his in-laws could take his daughter away. Yet we do not even see a conversation with them about this. My biggest problem lies with the character of Claire. It becomes clear that she sees some form of emotional replacement of Laura in Virginia, which is fine. But she seems to neglect her own husband and family in the process. Her husband Gilles is amazingly understanding given everything that happens and is always shown to be supportive to whatever Claire wants. Yet Claire entertains the idea of a sexual relationship with Virginia. Worse than that, she and her husband are considering having a baby, an idea somehow abandoned. At the end of the film, we see Lucie, Virginia's daughter, picked up at school 7 years later by Virginia and Claire. We see no trace or evidence that Claire has had her own child, instead seemingly being a new ersatz parent for little Lucie. For me personally, the ending would have been more gratifying if they showed Claire with her own daughter and the 2 daughters could continue on a friendship. Instead, it seems from this brief scene that Claire has given up on her own family or perhaps has even left her husband. Either way, she seems to have neglected her caring husband and the audience were due at least a scene in which she informs him of her choices, particularly if she left the marriage.

Despite a family friend praising his work for years,I for some reason have never got round to seeing a title from auteur film maker François Ozon.Getting the honour to be "president" for a festival being held on IMDb's Film Festival board,I noticed that one of the movies up for consideration was by Ozon.Deciding to take a roll of the dice and see if any Ozon flicks were on Netflix UK,I was delighted to spot the title from the Festival board on the site!,which led to me getting ready to meet Ozon's new girlfriend.The plot:Since crossing paths in childhood Claire & Laura have been close friends,with both of them being supportive of each other as Laura gets married to Gilles and Claire ties the knot with David. Becoming pregnant,Laura gives Claire the title of God Mother for her child. Appearing to have life all set,Claire is left heartbroken,when Laura dies from a sudden illness. Promising Laura that she would always take care of her daughter,Claire goes to help David with the baby and is taken aback,when she finds David dressed as Laura.View on the film:Undressing David's life with the death of Laura,auteur writer/director François Ozon & cinematographer Pascal Marti give Melodrama chic a quirky twist,with Ozon and Marti closely working with art director Pascal Leguellec to give David some old-school Hollywood glamour,beaming from the walls being sprayed with primary colours,to elegant circling shots swaying with David's womanly curves. Bringing David and Claire together over the loss of Laura,Ozon gives their scenes a sensuality which avoids titillation by Ozon dimming the lights and focusing on the faces of David and Claire.Taken from one of Ruth Rendell's lesser-known non-murder mystery books,the screenplay by Ozon gives the title a comedic zest, shining from the delightfully funny attempts Claire makes for David to not stand out at a women's fashion house,to David getting more than popcorn and a Coke at the cinema. Delicately building the relationship with their comedic playfulness, Ozon paints an incredibly touching melodrama,with Claire fully embracing Virginia (David) and Virginia finding a new love,whilst keeping the memory of Laura at heart.Pulling up a role originally offered to Matthias Schoenaerts, Romain Duris gives an incredible performance as Virginia/David thanks to Duris finding a common ground whilst emphasising the most unique elements of their personalities,from David's quiet reserved attitude being wiped away by the flamboyance of Virginia. Supporting Virginia at every stage,the pretty Anaïs Demoustier gives a great performance as Claire,who carries her friendship with Laura for the whole film,which Demoustier threads into Claire welcoming a new person in her life,as Claire meets the new girlfriend.

Une Nouvelle Amie is at least an interesting movie of Francois Ozon. For me this is another rare movie with an remarkable storyline, emotional depth and outstanding performances of the lead actors. It all leads towards the scene where David literally wakes up of his coma and is reborn as Virginia and Claire has accepted that she is in love with her, although he is a man. Both are driven by their love for the deceased Laura, the wife of David and the BFF of Claire. Ozon uses the song Une Femme avec Toi as extra drama element and it works. The combination of these facts – the death of Laura and the coming-out of David - is strange and makes it hard to imagine or identify, but Une Nouvelle Amie succeeds and that is exactly why this is an outstanding movie. It is about looks, feelings, character, identity, relationships.Although Romain Duris is nominated for a few awards - which is OK because his performance is as always solid and authentic – it is Anais Demoustier who really delivers an extra-ordinary performance in her role as the confused Claire. Both expose themselves in erotic scenes. Raphael Personnaz as the ordinary husband of Claire makes this romantic relationship drama complete. I hope that Francois Ozon keeps up with his Woody Allen-like speed of making movies.

Erstwhile Wunderkind François Ozon finally regains his grand form left floundering in the wake of his 2007 fiasco and first (and thus far only) English language film ANGEL. His immediate follow-up, RICKY, proved wildly uneven with a head-scratching second half undoing its initial poignancy. POTICHE did extremely well at the box-office but couldn't help but feel like 8 WOMEN Lite with both THE REFUGE and IN THE HOUSE teetering on the brink of greatness but hampered by bland or unsatisfactory endings respectively. Reason to rejoice about THE NEW GIRLFRIEND then, all the more surprising because it is one of those rare instances that finds Ozon adapting a literary source (in this case, a Ruth Rendell potboiler) to accommodate his personal proclivities rather than working from an original, preferably self-penned screenplay, a skill he has been somewhat faltering at of late.It was love at first sight for Claire and Laura, played as adults by Anaïs Demoustier and Isild Le Besco respectively, when they met at school aged 7 and were to become inseparable over the following years. Romance and marriage barely intervened so it was almost a given that Claire would vow to take care of Laura's husband David (Romain Duris) and their newborn baby Lucie when her BFF passed away mere months after childbirth. Now it's one thing to make such a promise but quite a different matter to follow through and Claire's so overcome with grief herself that she can't bear to be around her dead friend's husband, until she accidentally finds out his great secret...Spoiler alert !!! Venturing into the late Laura's house when the doorbell goes unanswered, Claire stumbles across David in full female drag casually giving his daughter her afternoon bottle. Although he claims this is his admittedly rather unique way to cover up a mother's absence to his infant offspring, David can barely disguise his excitement when showing Claire his wardrobe, consisting mostly of Laura's altered clothes and wigs bought over the internet. Claire's initial shock turns to bemusement as she christens David's alter ego "Virginia" and agrees to take "her" shopping and to the movies, the Vivien Leigh version of WATERLOO BRIDGE at a repertory theater where Virginia's felt up by an anonymous patron, "her" excitement stemming not so much from sexual pleasure as from the stranger's casual acceptance of "her" as a woman.Keeping David's secret life - and by extension her own as an all too willing accomplice - carefully hidden from her doting but clueless husband Gilles (the extraordinarily handsome Raphaël Personnaz, best known for playing MARIUS in Daniel Auteuil's recent Marcel Pagnol adaptations), Claire experiences a growing need to spend time with "Virginia" who's obviously filling the void left by Laura so they decide to spend an entire weekend together at the rural getaway of David's in-laws with lies told to all concerned. A trip to a pan-sexual nightclub confronts them with their secret selves as they watch sensational drag diva Eve Carlton mime to Nicole Croisille's haunting Une Femme Avec Toi, a song successfully treading the fine line between heartfelt and melodramatic similar to Ozon's finest work. The song's reappearance at the story's climax will provide an emotional sucker punch though it could so easily have slipped into mawkishness had the director (or his cast) hit the wrong notes.I must admit to breathing a huge sigh of relief in witnessing the assurance with which Ozon handles this tricky material, his in your face impudence first endearing him to cinema critics worldwide having matured into forgiveness and understanding of what drives his troubled characters. The gorgeous glowing hues of the autumnal photography by Pascal Marti (who shot Philippe Labro's underrated RIVE DROITE, RIVE GAUCHE a full three decades ago) celebrate the "lifelong" friendship between Claire and Laura in the engaging opening montage, gaining a distinctly ironic edge when they return for an ambiguously "happy" ending that will have you pondering its morbidly unhealthy implications for days after-wards.Still, even the most compelling tale would fall flat on its face without the right actors to tell it. Cast against type from his familiar ne'er do well Lotharios, Duris shines as the gender-conflicted David, his cross-dressing going from clumsy (sporting an overlooked five o'clock shadow when first going out) to completely convincing as "Virginia" gains gradual assurance, and the upper hand perhaps ? Up against such a showy part, it's not easy for youthful Anaïs Demoustier to hold her own, making it all the more impressive when she wrestles the limelight away from her experienced "leading lady". Claire's inner conflict remains very much the focus throughout, her affection for Laura having missed the opportunity of evolving into something more "transgressive" (as evidenced by a pair of highly erotic same sex fantasy sequences) with David/Virginia as a potential substitute. Of course, the ravishing redhead's willingness to undress (already displayed in Malgorzata Szumowska's sweltering ELLES) doesn't hurt and immediately endears her to this old pervert's heart. Always great to see veteran actress Aurore Clément (although she seems to have suffered some dodgy cosmetic surgery) as Laura's grieving mom and toothsome Isild Le Besco (sister of actress/director Maïwenn) practically creates an entire character out of thin air, projecting Laura's luminescence hovering over a narrative she's only spectrally part of.