In the opening scene, you see the back of a French actress walking down the street of Paris. The camera stays with her and you wonder, where is she going? Since you can’t see her face, you further wonder, who is she? The way she walks seems familiar to you. You may even recognize her back, her short hair, the back of her ears, and perhaps her rather petite outlook. Suddenly you gasp, she must be Audrey Tautou! Seldom have we seen actresses who exude such aura that is instantly recognizable. Our friend TK recognized the actress before the camera revealed her identity. He had no idea what movie we have chosen for him.
Delicacy has a slow moving plot. The overall story is not what I would call entertaining. It is about coping with losses and starting anew. Because there is so much realism within, you ought to be someone who appreciates acting in order to enjoy this movie. If you do, Delicacy is delicious. Tautou is a talented actress. We have seen her taking on different types of roles throughout her career. This time, as a widower, she buries herself in work shutting away from most social interactions. Can she fall in love again? As audience, we get to witness how love not at first sight works. Her counterpart played by François Damiens is worth a mention. Damiens looks utterly ordinary, awkward in every little move. He is even balding. And his character Markus has a huge crash on Nathalie played by Tautou. The way he looks at her, the way he behaves when she is nearby, and the way he spaces out when she is not around – all these moments accentuate how awkward the relationship development is. But the beauty is that it feels so natural looking at how the two interact and drown in this intolerable awkwardness. It feels so real.
The soundtrack performed by Emilie Simon is also worth a mention. The music is dreamy and moody. It suits the plot well. Emilie is a French singer who plays electronic music. If you have a chance to check out her music, I would recommend you to do so. Her music can be found in SingTel AMPed, arguably the world’s worst designed Android app. Alternatively, you may check out her official YouTube channel.
Delicacy does not have a thought provoking open ending like many European movies do. However, it does have a flavor to it. Perhaps, what the filmmakers want to tell us is that to help someone in overcoming the pain of losses hidden inside, one must relive her past, understand it, only then there is hope to moving on. On a side note, I think the title is appropriate in every way to describe the movie, especially Tautou’s character.