Rating: 
Summary: soundtrack
Review: I'm not gonna write a review about this film, I'm writing here so I could ask the following question: Does anyone know if there is a CD with the film's soundrack ? I have searched the web everywhere and I could not find even one site that sells the movie's soundtrack, or has a list with the movie's tracks. The movie has a beautiful soundtrack and it would be a great shame if it turns out that there is no soundtrack-Cd. If anyone knows anything about this subject, please write back. thanx, T.
Rating:
Summary: Great film, poor quality DVD
Review: It's worth buying this DVD for the quality of the film, in which the somewhat surreal setting (a brightly lit and garishly pink beauty salon, with its equally surreal clientele) is in stark contrast to the darker lifestyles of the main characters as they seek to come to terms with the besetting questions of sex and relationships. However, the purpose of this review is to draw attention to the poor quality of the film transfer to DVD. Fox Lorber don't seem to have worked out how to produce a sharp clear DVD image, and it's particularly unfortunate in this case as there is so much pink in the overall colour of the film. Even the subtitles are fuzzy. There are many good French films in the Fox Lorber catalogue that aren't easily available elsewhere - it's a great shame that the quality of the picture is so poor.
Rating: 
Summary: Nathalie Baye's film, not Audrey Tautou's
Review: Like many people, I saw 'Amelie' and figured "I'll watch - in fact, seek out - anything with Audrey Tautou." There have been some pleasant surprises along that road - 'L'Auberge Espagnole' and 'Dirty Pretty Things' come immediately to mind. There are some bad ones out there, too. I did not enjoy sitting through either 'God is Great, I'm Not' or 'Happenstance.' Now, with Ms. Tautou's rising international profile, we're seeing a "Tautou-ization" in the marketing of her earlier films. In 'Happenstance,' she's just part of the woodwork, yet stands alone on the VHS/DVD coverbox. In 'Venus Beauty Institute,' it's the same trick pulled on us: the marketers have succeeded in finding the *one* shot in the entire film where she happens to be poised in the center. Which is a shame, because this is Nathalie Baye's film. 51 (and radiantly beautiful) at the time of filming, Ms. Baye doesn't deserve the short shrift she's getting here. This part was written specifically with her in mind - it's a complex role that very few actresses could do justice to. US audiences will remember Baye as Leonardo DeCaprio's French-born mother in "Catch Me If You Can." She was also a standout with Sergi Lopez in "An Affair of Love." My videocassette tells me this film is categorized as a "Romantic Comedy. Hardly. There are elements of humor. Mostly this is about Angèle's (Baye's) humor - the absence of it, along with the spirit and hope that seem to have ebbed out of her life. Can she get it back?
Rating:
Summary: Nathalie Baye's film, not Audrey Tautou's
Review: Like many people, I saw 'Amelie' and figured "I'll watch - in fact, seek out - anything with Audrey Tautou." There have been some pleasant surprises along that road - 'L'Auberge Espagnole' and 'Dirty Pretty Things' come immediately to mind. There are some bad ones out there, too. I did not enjoy sitting through either 'God is Great, I'm Not' or 'Happenstance.' Now, with Ms. Tautou's rising international profile, we're seeing a "Tautou-ization" in the marketing of her earlier films. In 'Happenstance,' she's just part of the woodwork, yet stands alone on the VHS/DVD coverbox. In 'Venus Beauty Institute,' it's the same trick pulled on us: the marketers have succeeded in finding the *one* shot in the entire film where she happens to be poised in the center. Which is a shame, because this is Nathalie Baye's film. 51 (and radiantly beautiful) at the time of filming, Ms. Baye doesn't deserve the short shrift she's getting here. This part was written specifically with her in mind - it's a complex role that very few actresses could do justice to. US audiences will remember Baye as Leonardo DeCaprio's French-born mother in "Catch Me If You Can." She was also a standout with Sergi Lopez in "An Affair of Love." My videocassette tells me this film is categorized as a "Romantic Comedy. Hardly. There are elements of humor. Mostly this is about Angèle's (Baye's) humor - the absence of it, along with the spirit and hope that seem to have ebbed out of her life. Can she get it back?
Rating:
Summary: Nathalie Baye's film, not Audrey Tautou's
Review: Like many people, I saw 'Amelie' and figured "I'll watch - in fact, seek out - anything with Audrey Tautou." There have been some pleasant surprises along that road - 'L'Auberge Espagnole' and 'Dirty Pretty Things' come immediately to mind. There are some bad ones out there, too. I did not enjoy sitting through either 'God is Great, I'm Not' or 'Happenstance.' Now, with Ms. Tautou's rising international profile, we're seeing a "Tautou-ization" in the marketing of her earlier films. In 'Happenstance,' she's just part of the woodwork, yet stands alone on the VHS/DVD coverbox. In 'Venus Beauty Institute,' it's the same trick pulled on us: the marketers have succeeded in finding the *one* shot in the entire film where she happens to be poised in the center. Which is a shame, because this is Nathalie Baye's film. 51 (and radiantly beautiful) at the time of filming, Ms. Baye doesn't deserve the short shrift she's getting here. This part was written specifically with her in mind - it's a complex role that very few actresses could do justice to. US audiences will remember Baye as Leonardo DeCaprio's French-born mother in "Catch Me If You Can." She was also a standout with Sergi Lopez in "An Affair of Love." My videocassette tells me this film is categorized as a "Romantic Comedy. Hardly. There are elements of humor. Mostly this is about Angèle's (Baye's) humor - the absence of it, along with the spirit and hope that seem to have ebbed out of her life. Can she get it back?
Rating:
Summary: Reasonably entertaining - a film "gris"
Review: Not a film noir, thanks to its liveliness and a bitter-sweet humor, it is nonetheless a "naturalist" story of an antihero and her fellow, upwardly-immobile workers - all employed at "SMIC", or minimum wage. As a past French business owner, I sympathized most with the owner of the beauty parlor - especially when she vainly encourages our anti-hero to start her own business. Incredible, the number of construction workers I screened who couldn't divide, or whose French orthography was atrocious. But since Mitterand's ascension to the presidency back in 1981, the continued decline in national competitivity and rise in unemployment make this film a voice of its time - I only regret it shows no light at the end of the tunnel. Still the actors' and actresses' personalities and wit and charisma so illuminate the otherwise "morne" story line, that I found it eminently viewable and would look for more work from this group. And despite what's been said by some other reviewers, I believe this film could have been successfully conceived in Buenos Aires, New York, Prague, or Shanghai... there is a delicate universality to it in which we all can find some commonality. By the way, I could draw some parallels between this film and the independent comix series, "Minimum Wage", by Bob Fingerman, or the more hard-core series by Terry LeBan, e.g., "Love's Not a Three-Dollar Fare"
Rating: 
Summary: 1 star for the movie, and one for Tatou
Review: The best thing about this movie is Audrey Tatou, however with her screen time at a minimum, it's hard to justify keeping this film in your DVD library. I'd buy it due to it's low price, for a one time viewing, and then pawn it off. Tatou looks better in this movie than ever (especially the scene where Nathalie Baye and Antoine spy on her through the window!). I don't know how this movie won any award, as it's downright dull. Nathalie Baye's character is EXTREMELY horrible, ..., and bitchy in this flick, and it's way too difficult to fathom how the hell Anotine is ever in love with her. I am not a huge Nathalie Baye fan, but after seeing her in this, I don't want to ever look at her again! A completely implausible film, based on Baye's dreadful portrayal. Put another female lead in the role, and give her a little better disposition, and the film would perk up. Other good points: Antoine's character is played very well by the actor who portrays him. He provides most of the humorous moments in the film. And veteran French actress Bulle Ogier gives a great performance as the boss at the Venus Beauty Institute.
Rating:
Summary: A quest for love...
Review: The middle aged Angèle (Nathalie Baye) works in a beauty saloon where her manager says that she should be managing her own saloon. However, Angèle is content with what she is and has, or at least so she says. In the evenings Angèle goes to odd places and picks up strangers with whom she has sex. On one occasion when Angèle sits at the train station with one of these men she begins to express her interest in the man beyond sex, but the man in not interested. Antoine, a young artist, overhears the conversation and falls in love with Angèle and he decides to express love his love for her. Angèle resents the love shown by Antoine, and her fear for commitment begins to surface. Venus Beauty Institute is a small and interesting film that presents human interaction and conflict through the lens of insecurity and fear. This is portrayed through the characters and the environment in which they dwell.
Rating:
Summary: A quest for love...
Review: The middle aged Angèle (Nathalie Baye) works in a beauty saloon where her manager says that she should be managing her own saloon. However, Angèle is content with what she is and has, or at least so she says. In the evenings Angèle goes to odd places and picks up strangers with whom she has sex. On one occasion when Angèle sits at the train station with one of these men she begins to express her interest in the man beyond sex, but the man in not interested. Antoine, a young artist, overhears the conversation and falls in love with Angèle and he decides to express love his love for her. Angèle resents the love shown by Antoine, and her fear for commitment begins to surface. Venus Beauty Institute is a small and interesting film that presents human interaction and conflict through the lens of insecurity and fear. This is portrayed through the characters and the environment in which they dwell.
Rating:
Summary: If your date has a romantic streak...
Review: This is a great movie to stroke it. Although I personally found the fundamental love-at-first-sight aspect of the story a rather shaky foundation on which to base an otherwise realistic movie, I can't deny the romantic appeal of the wooing and resistance in this fairy-tale. The acting isn't great, but is passable, and really it's all about how sexy and attractive these characters are. Three women who work at a beauty salon each develop romances with men in counterpoint to one another. Our protagonist, Angele, is a cynical and lonely woman who feels that she is unable to love without hurting her loved one. But fantasy man Antoine shows up one day and declares that he has fallen helplessly in love with her--love at first sight--and that he will strive mightily to win her affection and love. It's a charming romance to be sure, but again--really--love at first sight? Even Steve and Janie, my two friends who got together pretty quickly still had to be introduced by friends and even though they were attracted to each other from the outset, they did perform the customary dance of caution and discovery before deciding to get together full-time. I just don't buy the premise that this guy could see the protagonist--at her most needy and dejected--and just flip for her to the extent that he'd sacrifce everything (including his engagement) just to get to know her. Maybe things are different in France, and I suppose that possibility helped my suspend disbelief. At any rate, my wife enjoyed it immensely, and her enjoyment certainly rubbed off on me. Though I like a more gripping, telling story, this one is hard to beat for pure romantic enjoyment.
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