All About Actresses

This was a strange exercise. Interesting, but ultimately a bit empty.

French actress Maïwenn writes, directs and stars in this mockumentary about the inner lives of some other prominent and upcoming actresses, including Charlotte Rampling, Julie Depardieu and Karin Viard. Although the content is scripted and not candid, Maïwenn uses the film as an opportunity to explore the anxieties and vulnerabilities of life in the spotlight. Aside from the director following the actresses around in their daily lives, each subject is also given a musical number in which they explain their greatest fear or dream. During the course of the film, Maïwenn becomes infatuated with one of the other actresses – a section which is pretty unconvincing and seems to be an excuse for some woman-on-woman pashing action – and is devastated when she is rejected. The other actresses, attending an advance screening of the film, are dismayed that Maïwenn has become the centre of the "documentary".

While this film did somewhat illuminate the off-camera lives of actresses, I still came away with the impression that most of them are pretty vacuous characters and not really worth the examination devoted to them in this work. After all, they are at their best when they're performing the words of others! The musical numbers were an unusual touch and really well-choreographed, and were arguably the best element of the film.

Two stars.

View the trailer here (the link is pretty screwy, sorry)