La Cambrure (The Curve) (1999)

Edwige Shaki, François Rauscher, André Del Debbio,

A featurette directed by French actress Edwige Shaki where Eric Rohmer worked as a technical adviser, THE CURVE is a movie that has the inimitable Rohmer stamp. Talky, it makes its fifteen minutes see... read more m a little longer. However, it's a playful little thing, where an art student meets his grandfather, a sculptor, and both exchange ideas about that part of the woman that is so alluring -- the curve of her back. Later on, he sees his own girlfriend Eva (Edwige Shaki, also co-starring) lying on her back in the same position as that of a drawing. Eva, realizing Roman sees her as a work of art, decides to see just how close she is to being just that. It does help that the actress' own physical presence is remarkable and that she in fact does look like a walking piece of living canvas, and ergo, the man's ideal. Eva has come to believe Roman was and is attracted to her because of "the curve". Eva then points out that a mannequin's torso isn't even made to a perfect scale, but to fit these exaggerated ideals. However, Roman has a quick turnaround and comes to admit that the most striking feature Eva has is her eyes. Available on DVD in the "CLAIRE'S KNEE Criterion Collection."