Search: Starring Sandrine Kiberlain

You can do nothing but sit in a haze of expectation, waiting for the fun to ferment, which it does

Erick Zonca is less interested in solving the mystery than in exploring the damaged psyches of Visconti and Bellaile.

The two leads of Kiberlain and Lafitte spark off each as a pair of highly unlikely yet strangely engaging partners in crime.

This is satire. Sharp, observant, but unlike British films in similar vein, never cutting.

Watching the two women find common ground, and then wreak havoc upon it, is what makes this otherwise unremarkable film worthwhile.

What, you might ask, is at the heart of the mystery? It's a good question and one that Pariser barely articulates.

If the characters are focused on how and if, for us the question why lingers in the air.

While eight-year-olds on up with love the scrapes and triumphs that the kids get themselves into, there is also a lot of pleasure to be had from an adult's perspective.

Mademoiselle Chambon will appeal more to those who prefer their 'affair drama' narratives slow-burning and the characters almost painfully restrained.

The camera is always very close to the actors, in their faces, capturing what can only be done in fiction.

Fabrice Luchini slips his leash and gives the funniest performance of the year, with Michel Piccoli, in a support role, coming a strong second.