A Single Girl (La Fille Seule) is one of those rare, pleasant films. Beautiful, young, Virginie Ledoyen is followed with a video cam as she argues with her boyfriend then takes a job as a chambermaid dealing with various personalities and rebuffing passes from her boss. Virginie was made for the close-ups; one never gets bored watching her walk down the corridors of a large hotel. And this beauty seems unaffected by it all; she is another pea in the Parisian pod. Director Benoit Jacquot has an eye for beauty and for film; this is a must see.
17 Reviews
Pure voyeurism
=G=14 May 2004
It is good thing Ledoyen is a seriously babe-a-licious hottie because she fills up every frame of this tedious and uneventful nonstory. In "A Single Girl", the camera follows Valérie (Ledoyen) around in real time, dogging her as she walks and walks and works and talks and walks and works and smokes and talks and works some more. This exercise in pure voyeurism shows us Valérie as she sits in a cafe telling her boyfriend she's pregnant. It shows her going to her new job as a room service waitress in a hotel...no cutaways, no fast forwards; just a continuum - every step she takes, down the street, around the corner, etc. We watch her put on her uniform and begin work...etc. On and on until about the 1:25 mark when we cut to a new day and Valérie, whose child is now a toddler, as she's talking with her mom in a park. Shortly thereafter the film ends. No story, just voyeurism. For what it is, it is very well done. Sound good? If so, watch it. If not, don't. (C+)
An Hour in a Life
gavin69425 May 2016
Early one morning Valerie has to tell her unemployed boyfriend Remi that she is pregnant. She has decided to keep the child, but they argue whether they should break up or not. That same morning Valerie starts working in room service at a smart hotel. The film follows the routine of Valerie bringing breakfast to the guests, Valerie constantly trying to phone her mother, and Valerie's relations with the other staff.
This was the breakthrough role for the 19-year-old Virginie Ledoyen, best known in America for the Danny Boyle film "The Beach", and earned her a César Award nomination. It was well-deserved. This is a great film, with no real plot or structure... just a look at love and the life of a girl in real time. And, you know what? Ledoyen is the selling point. Anyone else in the role and who knows what would have happened? I will have to be on the lookout for her in other films, because she clearly has that spark...
This was the breakthrough role for the 19-year-old Virginie Ledoyen, best known in America for the Danny Boyle film "The Beach", and earned her a César Award nomination. It was well-deserved. This is a great film, with no real plot or structure... just a look at love and the life of a girl in real time. And, you know what? Ledoyen is the selling point. Anyone else in the role and who knows what would have happened? I will have to be on the lookout for her in other films, because she clearly has that spark...
An absorbing experience
walward-29 April 2001
"A Single Girl" is an absorbing experience. Nothing really happens and there's not much dialogue, but it's completely engrossing. It's about a morning in the life of a hauntingly beautiful woman, Valerie, who's at a crossroads in her life. It's filmed in real time, meaning there are no cut-aways that skip time. If Valerie needs to get somewhere, we watch her walk to that place. There's no narration or "traveling" music. It's as if we are Valerie. What makes the film work so well is the wonderful, subtle performance by Virginie Ledoyen.
A pseudo-fly-on-the-wall docudrama
skepticskeptical26 March 2021
La fille seule is a pseudo-fly-on-the-wall docudrama of a day in the life of a somewhat moody young woman who is starting a new job in room service at a hotel. Near the end, time leaps forward to show what has become of her. A strange creation. It reminds in some ways of a recent film about a Mexican hotel chambermaid. Except in this case everyone lives happily ever after?
i wish life was like this
cheese_cake13 December 2005
the french make everything chic! even work! the movie is about a day in the life of a young girl, who gets pregnant, dumps her boyfriend and is starting her first day as a maid in a big hotel. so cool! the boyfriend is dumped i can't remember for unknown reasons, but hell the baby will grow up by itself. ah now i remember, speed is the main motto of this movie. the girl runs around everywhere, she does everything at top speed, make beds, deal with problems, watch the baby grow, unfortunately those of us who live life, know that a year doesn't just fly away, it has to be lived, that we have to wake up, brush our teeth, go to work, scratch our ass, come back from work, drink ourselves silly, get made fun of by vain blonde girls and then do it all over again. and definitely kids don't grow up by themselves. so yeah, some of the other reviews will have you believing that she's totally in charge and ah so in control, which is true, but in a fake sort of way. in a way, like someone who's got a sheet load of cash and is only play acting with life. unfortunately, we don't have that luxury, but hey it's good to see on the screen. i particularly like the the whole maid scenario, those are some of the best scenes of the movie, like when she is making the bed and this old geezer grabs her. i wish that was me, like a little cameo part. go see this movie!
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
Junker-29 January 2000
As John Lennon once wrote, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
This is a very simple film, and that simplicity gives it an extraordinary beauty. And speaking of "extraordinary beauty," Virginie Ledoyen is a revelation, a young Isabelle Adjani in the making.
Ledoyen plays Valerie, a young French girl who one morning meets her boyfriend in cafe, argues with him, then runs off to a hotel a couple blocks away to begin a new job. Her new co-workers greet her in the manner co-workers always greet a newcomer: some with welcome arms and others with contempt. When Valerie gets a break and runs back to the cafe to finish the argument with her boyfriend, we feel every tick of the clock. We know she is taking too long on the break and has got to get back!
But everything that happens to Valerie is so very real and so very urgent because the film is shot in real time. This was a daring attempt by the director, Benoit Jacquot, but his gamble hits the bullseye. Of course, with Virginie Ledoyen to follow around with his camera, Jacquot could hardly go wrong.
This is a very simple film, and that simplicity gives it an extraordinary beauty. And speaking of "extraordinary beauty," Virginie Ledoyen is a revelation, a young Isabelle Adjani in the making.
Ledoyen plays Valerie, a young French girl who one morning meets her boyfriend in cafe, argues with him, then runs off to a hotel a couple blocks away to begin a new job. Her new co-workers greet her in the manner co-workers always greet a newcomer: some with welcome arms and others with contempt. When Valerie gets a break and runs back to the cafe to finish the argument with her boyfriend, we feel every tick of the clock. We know she is taking too long on the break and has got to get back!
But everything that happens to Valerie is so very real and so very urgent because the film is shot in real time. This was a daring attempt by the director, Benoit Jacquot, but his gamble hits the bullseye. Of course, with Virginie Ledoyen to follow around with his camera, Jacquot could hardly go wrong.
A raw slice of life
jchong7 April 1999
"La Fille seule" is an absolute gem of a film that is particularly fascinating because its structural simplicity belies a complex, multi-layered character study. And the subject of writer/director Jacquot's scrutiny is a headstrong, independent young woman who, while acknowledging her vulnerability in the face of several personal crises, refuses to sit idly by and play the victim. The camera utterly adores actress Virginie Ledoyen (who portrays Valerie with raw vibrance), which is perhaps why there is never a dull moment in a film that was shot in real time so that viewers could get a glimpse of even the most trivial of daily tasks that Valerie undertakes. What is also interesting is Jacquot's low-keyed exploration of sexual harassment in the workplace and of how brief, chance encounters with strangers can have long-term effects on our personal attitudes and perceptions.
For those who think the movies aren't realistic enough...and corridor fetishists.
alice liddell31 March 2000
Like HIGH NOON, this film is largely set in real time, as it follows a day in the life of the young woman of the condescending title. Unlike the classic Western, there is no action melodrama, no compression of crises or events, no heroes or villains, no tension. This is not to say it's not an unusual day - the heroine informs her boyfriend of their accidental pregnancy, begins a new job and decides to change her life.
The film starts in a cafe, as Valerie tells her unemployed boyfriend Remi that she is pregnant. He is a selfish, shiftless idler, and his reaction is predictably self-centred. She goes to the hotel where she is starting work, attracting jealous hostility from one fellow waitress, lecherous advances from a waiter, and fending off friendly gestures from another colleague.
During the course of the morning, she serves an irritable Italian couple, a pleasant French businessman alienated from his daughter, and a neurotic wife who demands eggs for breakfast, and is found making love to her husband when Valerie returns. Exasperated, Valerie returns to the cafe, and the ever-indolent Remi. After his cowardly intimations of abandoning responsibility, she storms out, nearly getting run over except for Remi's quick reflexes. The shock seems to force her into action.
There isn't a single scene that does not feature Virginie Ledoyen, an actress whose talent was leodimmed in THE BEACH, but is highly regarded in France. This emphasis might please some of the actress's male admirers, but the problem with real-time is that the boring (or 'phatic' as intellectuals like to call them) bits cut out of most films are left in, all in the name of realism. And so we follow Valerie endlessly, walking down the street, walking up stairs, walking down corridors, riding in lifts, generally being surly. Ledoyen is not required to show much emotion - who does in every day life? - and so this interminable realism risks becoming monotonous.
LA FILLE SEULE is, therefore, a melodrama in the 1950s Hollywood sense, following as it does a heroine of limited options in her hermetic environment, where her personality and possibilities are restricted to her surroundings. The more Valerie walks down the same corridor, the more we feel she is caught in a labyrinth, and there are times when the decor seems to overwhelm her, as she is caught in long shot as just another feature of the frame.
However, in the great Hollywood melodramas of Sirk et al, the monotony and repetition finally turned in on the film, and the repressions rose to crisis point, bursting the scene in physical and emotional trauma. Jacquot refuses to exploit his material's potential for melodrama - any life-changing decision is elided, the film is determinedly open-ended - so while his film is 'objectively' authentic, it doesn't feel true - this girl is so alone, she is separate even from us.
Valerie's lonely plight is contrasted with that of the other characters, as Jacquot creates a patchwork of alienation, as well as offering his heroine pessimistic insights into relationships, gender (Valerie is determined her child will be a boy, such are the options open to women) and parenthood. Crucial here is the scene where Valerie signs her contract. She left her last job when a cook tried it on, and her female employer, Sabine's snide interrogations accuse her of using her striking looks to attract clients for 'tips'. Valerie is outraged, but a phonecall for Sabine from her vacillating lover shows how vulnerable she really is, and that the title has more general implications (see also Valerie's mother).
Many critics have compared the film to those of the New Wave, presumably because of the open-air filming and young heroine. The opening sequence with the pinball machine and cafe, the day-in-the-life narrative, and Valerie's short hair at the end all echo Godard's VIVRE SA VIE, but the film bares little real relation to that pioneering French movement. There is none of the breezy freshness of the original films, none of their engaging untidiness, romantic verve, personal poetry or wide-eyed wonder at the medium, never mind the rigorous critique of a Godard film like VIVRE SA VIE.
Passers-by might smile into the camera, but its movements are deliberate and elegant, making the film's 'realism' seem very contrived. This wouldn't be a problem if the film had used artifice to recreate the heroine's inner life - instead all we have is a big modern hotel, a bit of talk, unyielding characters, and lots, oh lots, of corridors.
The film starts in a cafe, as Valerie tells her unemployed boyfriend Remi that she is pregnant. He is a selfish, shiftless idler, and his reaction is predictably self-centred. She goes to the hotel where she is starting work, attracting jealous hostility from one fellow waitress, lecherous advances from a waiter, and fending off friendly gestures from another colleague.
During the course of the morning, she serves an irritable Italian couple, a pleasant French businessman alienated from his daughter, and a neurotic wife who demands eggs for breakfast, and is found making love to her husband when Valerie returns. Exasperated, Valerie returns to the cafe, and the ever-indolent Remi. After his cowardly intimations of abandoning responsibility, she storms out, nearly getting run over except for Remi's quick reflexes. The shock seems to force her into action.
There isn't a single scene that does not feature Virginie Ledoyen, an actress whose talent was leodimmed in THE BEACH, but is highly regarded in France. This emphasis might please some of the actress's male admirers, but the problem with real-time is that the boring (or 'phatic' as intellectuals like to call them) bits cut out of most films are left in, all in the name of realism. And so we follow Valerie endlessly, walking down the street, walking up stairs, walking down corridors, riding in lifts, generally being surly. Ledoyen is not required to show much emotion - who does in every day life? - and so this interminable realism risks becoming monotonous.
LA FILLE SEULE is, therefore, a melodrama in the 1950s Hollywood sense, following as it does a heroine of limited options in her hermetic environment, where her personality and possibilities are restricted to her surroundings. The more Valerie walks down the same corridor, the more we feel she is caught in a labyrinth, and there are times when the decor seems to overwhelm her, as she is caught in long shot as just another feature of the frame.
However, in the great Hollywood melodramas of Sirk et al, the monotony and repetition finally turned in on the film, and the repressions rose to crisis point, bursting the scene in physical and emotional trauma. Jacquot refuses to exploit his material's potential for melodrama - any life-changing decision is elided, the film is determinedly open-ended - so while his film is 'objectively' authentic, it doesn't feel true - this girl is so alone, she is separate even from us.
Valerie's lonely plight is contrasted with that of the other characters, as Jacquot creates a patchwork of alienation, as well as offering his heroine pessimistic insights into relationships, gender (Valerie is determined her child will be a boy, such are the options open to women) and parenthood. Crucial here is the scene where Valerie signs her contract. She left her last job when a cook tried it on, and her female employer, Sabine's snide interrogations accuse her of using her striking looks to attract clients for 'tips'. Valerie is outraged, but a phonecall for Sabine from her vacillating lover shows how vulnerable she really is, and that the title has more general implications (see also Valerie's mother).
Many critics have compared the film to those of the New Wave, presumably because of the open-air filming and young heroine. The opening sequence with the pinball machine and cafe, the day-in-the-life narrative, and Valerie's short hair at the end all echo Godard's VIVRE SA VIE, but the film bares little real relation to that pioneering French movement. There is none of the breezy freshness of the original films, none of their engaging untidiness, romantic verve, personal poetry or wide-eyed wonder at the medium, never mind the rigorous critique of a Godard film like VIVRE SA VIE.
Passers-by might smile into the camera, but its movements are deliberate and elegant, making the film's 'realism' seem very contrived. This wouldn't be a problem if the film had used artifice to recreate the heroine's inner life - instead all we have is a big modern hotel, a bit of talk, unyielding characters, and lots, oh lots, of corridors.
Powerful tale...
madoc17 September 2000
I loved this movie... its a powerful tale shot in realtime, that shows two pivitol hours in the life of a single girl... As someone who has worked in the hotel industry the thing that struck me was the fact that if you changed the langague to English it could be sit in an American city. It a warm truthful picture of life.
Quite possibly the worst movie I have ever seen
javatrader28 September 2000
Don't get sucked in by the higher rating. I don't want to call it the WORST movie I have ever seen because I fear you will want to see it just to see how really bad it was (you know, driving by an accident, but slowing to take a look). Don't let the pretentious fans of Jacquot sway you. There is no question that Ledoyen is beautiful to look at, but the dialogue was both silly and annoying. They'll tell you to view it on several levels....don't bother, on any level, this movie was a total waste of celluloid.
Virginie Ledoyen in a star-making performance
Camera-Obscura30 July 2006
A SINGLE GIRL (Benoît Jacquot - France 1995).
A little known gem with the beautiful Virginie Ledoyen in the lead. I have a special relation with some films and this is certainly one of them. I first saw it - not long after it came out - on Dutch public television in my final year in high school. I thought the girl in the main role (Virginie Ledoyen) was the coolest girl I ever saw and the film always stuck with me. Later on, largely due to her performance in this film, she would become a big star and continued to be in the limelight and even played alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in THE BEACH (2000), so that's probably why I kept remembering her role in LA SEULE FILLE.
For a large part, the film plays in real time as the camera follows Valérie on the day she finds out she's pregnant. She starts a new job in a hotel as a maid. Her day-to-day routines are followed, her various encounters with the hotel guests and her intermittent meetings with her boyfriend at a nearby café. He doesn't know how to handle the situation, he doesn't have a job and cannot seem to make up his mind about anything, let alone this situation. He is a bit of a loser. Off course Valérie is in the toughest spot but somehow she never ceases to lose control or overview of the situation. She is on screen all the time as the camera follows her constantly while she walks down the corridors of the hotel, in the elevator, walking down the streets. Even though she has an attitude, is arrogant and acts a bit too wise for a girl her age, she remains absolutely fascinating throughout the film.
The lack of plot hardly mattered to me, because it's compensated by Virginie Ledoyen's radiant presence. This is the perfect example of a film where one actor or actress completely makes it work.
Camera Obscura --- 9/10
A little known gem with the beautiful Virginie Ledoyen in the lead. I have a special relation with some films and this is certainly one of them. I first saw it - not long after it came out - on Dutch public television in my final year in high school. I thought the girl in the main role (Virginie Ledoyen) was the coolest girl I ever saw and the film always stuck with me. Later on, largely due to her performance in this film, she would become a big star and continued to be in the limelight and even played alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in THE BEACH (2000), so that's probably why I kept remembering her role in LA SEULE FILLE.
For a large part, the film plays in real time as the camera follows Valérie on the day she finds out she's pregnant. She starts a new job in a hotel as a maid. Her day-to-day routines are followed, her various encounters with the hotel guests and her intermittent meetings with her boyfriend at a nearby café. He doesn't know how to handle the situation, he doesn't have a job and cannot seem to make up his mind about anything, let alone this situation. He is a bit of a loser. Off course Valérie is in the toughest spot but somehow she never ceases to lose control or overview of the situation. She is on screen all the time as the camera follows her constantly while she walks down the corridors of the hotel, in the elevator, walking down the streets. Even though she has an attitude, is arrogant and acts a bit too wise for a girl her age, she remains absolutely fascinating throughout the film.
The lack of plot hardly mattered to me, because it's compensated by Virginie Ledoyen's radiant presence. This is the perfect example of a film where one actor or actress completely makes it work.
Camera Obscura --- 9/10
Low budget, good quality!
Marral3 July 2001
I cought this movie on late nigth television, and it really grabbed me. I never knew the name untill I found it here. I was impressed by the simplicity and the fact that I never actually got bored of seeing the lead actress walking through corridors. It's a realistic movie, low budget and i really liked it.
Dull, predictable, barely even a slice of life
jimcheva9 June 2020
As some reviewers have pointed out, nothing much happens here, we just watch the main character in real time. She has some drama going on and a few stock encounters while working at a hotel. She's pretty enough, but sans plus, and the whole point seems to be she's a normal young French woman. Which really is about as interesting as watching a normal young American woman, only with more time in cafes.
A confused proposition with some interesting moments
Rodrigo_Amaro11 January 2024
"A Single Girl" moves through such a thin line between reality (art) and fiction (entertainment) that it's hard to figure out what director/writer Benoît Jacquot was
intended with such piece. Entertainment can be put aside as the majority of elements and situations brought to us here are real and makes us think about life itself and how
does one deal with countless obstacles through a long day's journey. But on the other side of the coin, Mr. Jacquot throws so many strange and unbelievable
scenarios into the mix one wonders about his actual goal while using a cinema verité style. And it's a pity that he doesn't compromise by being fully realistic
because he had all the elements, the tension to create a great study on loneliness and how does one succeed (or not) in such condition while facing a heartless
world where one has battles all the time and no truce can be found.
It goes as a real-time story is developed revolving the titular girl (Virginie Ledoyen) and a day in her life as she deals with two new and big things in her life: an unexpected pregnancy and how her boyfriend (Benoit Magimel) is going to react to such news; and also her first day at a new job on a fancy hotel where predictability is never part of the game, either dealing with her superiors, colleagues and demanding or needy guests. She's beautiful, so it's obviously she's in high demand by everybody and it's a long stressful morning ahead of her. While the meetings with the handsome, unemployed and zero prospects boyfriend is something one wonders why those two ever connect since it's nothing but disagreements over everything, the routine at the hotel is never dull and it's one epic challenge after another.
The whole film is a strange set of events where we never take our eyes and concentration from the girl. We follow her very closely during her ordeals, in between small talks, plenty of silence and walking on corridors and streets, and any contact she has with another person can be either an attack on her, orders all around, or some small moments of good company. Many erratic things happen almost as if the universe was conspiring for her to fail again (as she had to leave a similar job after suffering harassment from a manager) and with the baby on the way, she needs that job. A frantic environment that doesn't even allow her to show her best side, or fake a smile when needed. Highly stressful bits and the film hits all the right notes in getting the audience's attention. Outside of that realm and with the boyfriend, I kept wondering about their past, as it's quite clear to see they don't have a future. She suffers a lot during the day, and he's the one complaining about everything.
Cinema as a mirror of life where audiences can project thoughts, feelings, questions and get some answers are one of this art's purposes, since things becomes richer, valuable and worthy of study and reflection. I felt this film as being part of a third way, an alternate universe where the unusual mixture of elements becomes a void where one can easily accept the plotless story, and maybe get something more of this. It was too on/off with me and the off parts won. One contrast: why it felt important to have a real sex scene performed while many bits and pieces from work routine felt completely unreal, with reactions that could get her fired on the spot, plus the real mess that hotel management actually is. What's real works, but what's detached from life gets in the way of everything.
At least, Ledoyen has a phenomenal performance, of a high caliber for a newcomer and she owns the movie with many unforgettable moments. You simply don't take your eyes off her. As for the movie, I simply could not accept it as a whole. But almost. 5/10.
It goes as a real-time story is developed revolving the titular girl (Virginie Ledoyen) and a day in her life as she deals with two new and big things in her life: an unexpected pregnancy and how her boyfriend (Benoit Magimel) is going to react to such news; and also her first day at a new job on a fancy hotel where predictability is never part of the game, either dealing with her superiors, colleagues and demanding or needy guests. She's beautiful, so it's obviously she's in high demand by everybody and it's a long stressful morning ahead of her. While the meetings with the handsome, unemployed and zero prospects boyfriend is something one wonders why those two ever connect since it's nothing but disagreements over everything, the routine at the hotel is never dull and it's one epic challenge after another.
The whole film is a strange set of events where we never take our eyes and concentration from the girl. We follow her very closely during her ordeals, in between small talks, plenty of silence and walking on corridors and streets, and any contact she has with another person can be either an attack on her, orders all around, or some small moments of good company. Many erratic things happen almost as if the universe was conspiring for her to fail again (as she had to leave a similar job after suffering harassment from a manager) and with the baby on the way, she needs that job. A frantic environment that doesn't even allow her to show her best side, or fake a smile when needed. Highly stressful bits and the film hits all the right notes in getting the audience's attention. Outside of that realm and with the boyfriend, I kept wondering about their past, as it's quite clear to see they don't have a future. She suffers a lot during the day, and he's the one complaining about everything.
Cinema as a mirror of life where audiences can project thoughts, feelings, questions and get some answers are one of this art's purposes, since things becomes richer, valuable and worthy of study and reflection. I felt this film as being part of a third way, an alternate universe where the unusual mixture of elements becomes a void where one can easily accept the plotless story, and maybe get something more of this. It was too on/off with me and the off parts won. One contrast: why it felt important to have a real sex scene performed while many bits and pieces from work routine felt completely unreal, with reactions that could get her fired on the spot, plus the real mess that hotel management actually is. What's real works, but what's detached from life gets in the way of everything.
At least, Ledoyen has a phenomenal performance, of a high caliber for a newcomer and she owns the movie with many unforgettable moments. You simply don't take your eyes off her. As for the movie, I simply could not accept it as a whole. But almost. 5/10.
tense, beautiful, touching film
eyeseehot20 February 2004
Valerie tells her boyfriend she's pregnant, he's not sure what he wants. She's mad, but hoping he'll somehow turn around. The unsettled uncertain back and forth is very real. She seems better than the boyfriend, but doesn't quite know it.
Then off to work at a new job in a hotel. Rhythm varies with the headlong speedy movement of work and occasional moments grabbed for a nap or a smoke. Tensions with staff and guests make you worry about this young girl: any situation could explode. She seems calm outwardly, but you gradually get a sense of the roiling interior. Will she crack under the pressure? Mysteries--why is she so cold to the black co-worker? Racism? Worry? You're not quite sure. At moments things loosen up, the girl shows attitude to the point you think she might get fired. Can she be that tough, that self-confident? In a way, yes. She turns out to be an amazing character who almost thinks she's ordinary, though she knows the men are after her like a pack of wolves. She's young, you worry for her, but she can take care of herself. In the end she seems awesomely, unfathomably self-sufficient.
This movie seems to be about female power. A good pairing would be with Sautet's A Simple Story, about an older woman also outwardly ordinary (though beautiful) but with amazing contained power, a kind of integrity beyond any men she encounters.
Then off to work at a new job in a hotel. Rhythm varies with the headlong speedy movement of work and occasional moments grabbed for a nap or a smoke. Tensions with staff and guests make you worry about this young girl: any situation could explode. She seems calm outwardly, but you gradually get a sense of the roiling interior. Will she crack under the pressure? Mysteries--why is she so cold to the black co-worker? Racism? Worry? You're not quite sure. At moments things loosen up, the girl shows attitude to the point you think she might get fired. Can she be that tough, that self-confident? In a way, yes. She turns out to be an amazing character who almost thinks she's ordinary, though she knows the men are after her like a pack of wolves. She's young, you worry for her, but she can take care of herself. In the end she seems awesomely, unfathomably self-sufficient.
This movie seems to be about female power. A good pairing would be with Sautet's A Simple Story, about an older woman also outwardly ordinary (though beautiful) but with amazing contained power, a kind of integrity beyond any men she encounters.
Life as it is - a film in real time -- but what was the point?
Dilip27 December 2001
I picked up "La Fille seule" ("A Single Girl"; French, 1995, with English subtitles) on video tonight and just finished watching it with a friend of mine. Neither of us really understood what the film was about or what its message was.
Nominally, the film shows a morning in the life of Valérie (Virginie Ledoyen), a woman probably in her early 20s, and her having to tell her unemployed and uninspiring boyfriend, Rémi (Benoît Magimel), that she is pregnant. It is also the first day of work for her, after being unemployed for a year or so. Much of the elapsed time depicted in the film is on the job - she works delivering room service meals to guests at a fancy hotel in Paris. The story is revealed in real time - when Valérie walks, we follow her until she gets where she is going, and then continue our almost voyeuristic tailgating of her. The shooting gives an impression of hand-held filming.
I enjoyed the concept of showing life as it is with time neither compressed nor played backwards or forwards. We see all of Valérie's morning - her walks down long corridors and rides up and down the hotel elevators delivering food, her signing of her employment contract, her washing her hands in a bathroom - everything. However, this becomes a bit monotonous - which could have been the director's goal - and I found myself imagining scene transitions and cuts to integrate the story's meaningful montages and leave out irrelevant trivia.
I didn't really understand what message we're supposed to glean. Valérie is surprisingly bereft of much emotion in most of the film; is "A Single Girl" a simple tale of the possibly mindless dehumanization some work can inflict on us? A depiction of monotony of real life? I don't think so. Maybe just an experimental play with time? That could be, but it could have been much more clever and interesting.
Nominally, the film shows a morning in the life of Valérie (Virginie Ledoyen), a woman probably in her early 20s, and her having to tell her unemployed and uninspiring boyfriend, Rémi (Benoît Magimel), that she is pregnant. It is also the first day of work for her, after being unemployed for a year or so. Much of the elapsed time depicted in the film is on the job - she works delivering room service meals to guests at a fancy hotel in Paris. The story is revealed in real time - when Valérie walks, we follow her until she gets where she is going, and then continue our almost voyeuristic tailgating of her. The shooting gives an impression of hand-held filming.
I enjoyed the concept of showing life as it is with time neither compressed nor played backwards or forwards. We see all of Valérie's morning - her walks down long corridors and rides up and down the hotel elevators delivering food, her signing of her employment contract, her washing her hands in a bathroom - everything. However, this becomes a bit monotonous - which could have been the director's goal - and I found myself imagining scene transitions and cuts to integrate the story's meaningful montages and leave out irrelevant trivia.
I didn't really understand what message we're supposed to glean. Valérie is surprisingly bereft of much emotion in most of the film; is "A Single Girl" a simple tale of the possibly mindless dehumanization some work can inflict on us? A depiction of monotony of real life? I don't think so. Maybe just an experimental play with time? That could be, but it could have been much more clever and interesting.
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