The Ring Finger
L’Annulaire
Director: Diane BERTRAND
Writer/director Diane Bertrand’s adults-only second feature is an adaptation of Japanese author Yoko Ogawa’s cult novel, and is a ravishing, steamy story of sex and decay.
After 21 year-old Iris (the effortlessly radiant Olga Kurylenko) suffers an accident while working at a factory, she moves to a nearby port town and stumbles into a new job as receptionist and personal secretary to an uptight scientist (Marc Barbé). His peculiar line of business involves preserving customers’ mementos into specimens - a lock of hair, for example, or a piece of music. Iris quickly drifts into an increasingly fetishistic relationship with her boss, while also pining for the enigmatic sailor (Stipe Erceg) who shares her hotel room during the hours she’s at work.
THE RING FINGER is an enigmatic but dazzling viewing experience - the visual beauty, studied eroticism and hauntingly effective score (composed by Portishead’s Beth Gibbons) are alone worth the price of admission. But it’s Kurylenko’s central performance as Iris that impresses the most. A breathtaking beauty, she simultaneously communicates a chilling emptiness and a painful inner longing. She is sure to be a major star in the very near future.
France 2005 - Drama (100 mins)
In French with English Subtitles
Director: Diane Bertrand
Script: Diane Bertrand
Cast: Olga Kurylenko, Marc Barbé, Stipe Erceg