''De vrais mensonges'' is a 2010 French comedy-romance film starring Audrey Tautou and directed by

Pierre Salvadori Pierre Salvadori (born 8 November 1964) is a French film director from Santo-Pietro-di-Venaco, known for works on romantic comedies such as '' Hors de prix'' (2006). Life and career In 1989 Salvadori wrote his first screenplay, which would then ...

. The screenplay was written by Salvadori and

Benoît Graffin Benoît Graffin (born 14 August 1966) is a French screenwriter and film director. In 1998 he won a development grant for '' Café de la plage'' in the Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival. Filmography As a writer: *'' The Trouble With You ...

. It was distributed in English-speaking countries under the titles ''Beautiful Lies'' and ''Full Treatment''.

Plot

Émilie ( Audrey Tautou), co-owner of a hair salon, receives an anonymous love letter from her worker Jean (

Sami Bouajila Sami Bouajila (born 26 May 1966) is a French actor who has won two César Awards. Bouajila has worked and acted in two Oscar nominated films ('' Days of Glory'' and '' Outside the Law''), both directed by director Rachid Bouchareb. Early life B ...

) who, unknown to Émilie, is highly educated but took up the handy-man job in the salon after a depression. Émilie doesn't fall for the love letter but passes it on to her mother Maddy (

Nathalie Baye Nathalie Marie Andrée Baye (born 6 July 1948) is a French film, television and stage actress. She began her career in 1970 and has appeared in more than 80 films. A ten-time César Award nominee, her four wins were for '' Every Man for Himself' ...

) who is depressed since the breakup of her marriage. Maddy falls for the love letter and is in high spirits again. Jean's high education as a translator in several Asian and European languages is uncovered in a verbal fight in Chinese with two women. Émilie is now fearing criticism from Jean as her education is no match to his. In the meanwhile Maddy is losing her high spirits as no new letter arrives. Émilie then writes new anonymous letters to her mother, but Maddy heavily criticizes them for there lack of style and emotion. To avoid Jean, Émilie sends him out to do errands, posting the mail is one of them and when he runs out of stamps he delivers one letter by himself, another anonymous faux love letter from Émilie to Maddy. Maddy sees Jean putting the letter in her letter box and follows him back to the salon. Consequently believing him to be her secret admirer Maddy flirts with him.

Cast

* Audrey Tautou as Émilie *

as Maddy, mother of Émilie *

as Jean * as Sylvia, partner with Émilie in the hair salon "Les intondables" *

Judith Chemla Judith Chemla (; born 5 July 1985) is a French actress. Life and career In 2012, Chemla appeared in '' Camille Rewinds'', for which she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 38th César Awards. On 10 April 2020, during the coronavi ...

as Paulette, a timid employee *

Daniel Duval Daniel Duval (28 November 1944 – 10 October 2013) was a French film actor, director and writer. Best known as an actor, Duval has credits in over 70 television and film productions. As a filmmaker, Duval was awarded the Silver Prize at the 1 ...

as father of Émilie

Production

Filming began on 8 June 2009. ''De vrais mensonges'' was mostly shot in the

Languedoc-Roussillon Languedoc-Roussillon (; oc, Lengadòc-Rosselhon ; ca, Llenguadoc-Rosselló) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, it joined with the region of Midi-Pyrénées to become Occitania. It comprised five departments, and ...

region, except for two days spent in Paris. Filming was completed on 5 August.

Reception

Xan Brooks from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' gave the film two out of five stars and stated "Audrey Tautou plays stupid cupid in this excitable comedy, a cut-price, candy-coated update on Jane Austen's '' Emma'' that bounces along the marina at Sete with its blood sugar through the roof." Brooks added that Bouajila was the only actor who "emerges with his dignity relatively intact."

TVNZ , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the So ...

's Darren Bevan gave the film six out of ten and commented "''Beautiful Lies'' is a piece of French fluff; beautifully shot in a bright French town - it has all the breeziness within but is insubstantial and instantly forgettable."

References

External links