Part of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s mission is to foster greater understanding through world cinema. This year 72 Foreign Language films were submitted for Golden Globes consideration. Here is an overview of one of them.

With each new film, one never quite knows what to expect with French director François Ozon. From Under the Sand and Swimming Pool to In the House and Young and Beautiful or Potiche and 8 Women, his movies have demonstrated a wide range in tone and topics, from the campy and frivolous to the oniric and poetic and also the dark and slightly disturbing. Most of these adjectives could qualify for his latest, The New Girlfriend, loosely based on a Ruth Rendell short story.

David just lost his wife Laura, leaving him understandably distraught and alone with their infant baby girl. Equally affected by the loss, is Claire, Laura’s childhood friend. So when one day she finds David dressed in Laura’s clothes, their relationship takes an unexpected new turn and dynamic. As a man wrestling with gender identity, always reliable, French star Romain Duris eschews the easy trap of drag queen histrionics and flamboyance. This is not Some Like it Hot or The Birdcage, and not a biopic à la Danish Girl either. Ozon shows David’s increasing need for cross-dressing not as an affliction or a sickness, but the deep urge for a release. Is it for sexual arousal, to ultimately become transgender or to simply be closer to his dead wife by looking like her? Or perhaps a way to be a new mother to his young child?

In a thoughtful depiction, Ozon lest the suspense simmer as he keeps exploring the complex psychological mechanism that motivates an individual to want to become another one. He is careful not to judge in establishing the sensitive nature of his subject matter, preferring to let the audience decide for themselves what might be the norm and not, accept or not that David’s desire can be legitimate. In the end, their possible malaise at being confronted with what is shown on screen will reflect on their openness in facing a real issue that is still taboo for many.

“I’ll admit I am a little bit twisted”, once confessed Ozon whose films over the years have certainly reflected that permeating discomfort. No wonder he often mentions Alain Resnais, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Douglas Sirk as major influences. We can add Claude Chabrol for his portrayal of middle class bourgeoisie burdened with stifling deep secrets. The New Girlfriend might disturb but, at its core, it is a human story. Even if ambiguous and unsettling.

Jean-Paul Chaillet