I don't agree that this is middle-brow film-making. It's more typical of something on the Lifetime Channel.
I do agree that the movie could have (in other hands) been made intriguing by looking at the chain of obsessions among the characters in the movie - but it fails to do so. This is pretty poor stuff. My main interest was in seeing Depardieu and Miou Miou so much younger than I'm used to seeing them. Even Chamonix looks no more remarkable than any other mountain area. This is really not worth people's time.
I do agree that the movie could have (in other hands) been made intriguing by looking at the chain of obsessions among the characters in the movie - but it fails to do so. This is pretty poor stuff. My main interest was in seeing Depardieu and Miou Miou so much younger than I'm used to seeing them. Even Chamonix looks no more remarkable than any other mountain area. This is really not worth people's time.