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CD shipped very quickly and arrived in great condition. Music on the CD is fantastic! Thanks for the great deal!

The Josh Groban CD arrived within a few days and as described by the seller. Great CD and seller.

This is my all time favorite CD ever. I love every song on this CD and Josh Groban sounds like an angel. I especially loved Ave Maria, but in fact I loved every one! For Josh Groban lovers or Christmas music Lovers or Beautiful music lovers. This is it!

Bought this for my mom for Christmas !! Then after hearing it bought one for myself. Absolutely beautiful !!!

There are some great songs on here. Josh Groban is.. well, Josh Groban. That's part of why I bought the CD. It is worth the buy and at a reasonable price too. However, in my opinion, he needs to stick to the music that can really show off his voice. Christmas music doesn't always do so.

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We had a small (family only) ceremony at home and just popped in this CD...The first prelude songs played while we were putting on coursages and getting ready to take our places...then the Canon in D and Jesu Joy played during the ceremony and was perfect background music and comes through the same in the video. It continued to played while we socialized after and toasted. I was very pleased with it and am loaning it to my step daughter for her wedding.

I purchased this as an alternative to the music that our pastor let us review, for our wedding coming up in a month!!! This Cd is all that I had hoped it would be and more!!! The two CD's that our pastor gave us were more ochestra-like, and just weren't personal enough for me!!!! This music is just lovely!!! When you play this music, it almost feels like you have your own personal quartet sitting in front of the church playing for your wedding!!!!

this is one of the better cds i have found for my wedding and it shipped fast

I purchased this CD for my 78 yr old mother, a widow, who is getting remarried this Sept. and needed some recorded music to play before the ceremony and for the processional and recessional. She absolutely loves the CD and plays it over and over and over! It is a beautiful CD and I would highly recommend it for anyone needing this type of music.

This was a great resource for prelude music as well as music for the ceremony. It is a nice blend of classical and contemporary. I used it for a friend's wedding and we were all very pleased with it.

Reviews

this cd is the best!!!Love it, love it,love it!!!! and the DVD is great. Only wish all of the songs on the DVD were on the CD

I am so pleased with my purchase of Joshua Groban's CD, that I recommend it to others. I do not understand Italian , but I can sing along or hum.I enjoy the English songs as well.

There is nobody in this world who can do "O Holy Night" like Joosh can. Sends chills right through you. BRAVO!!!

This is the recording of Josh's first live concerts for PBS in the USA. Aged just 21, his voice is simply incredible. Here he performs all the songs from his self-titled debut album, plus "Broken vow" which ended up on his second album "Closer", and a fabulous performance of "For Always" which he recorded for the soundtrack of the Steven Spielberg film A.I. and conducted live by the composer John Williams. There are a number of other special guests including David Foster (his producer) and the Corrs. The CD only contains a selection of songs from the DVD. However, they have also included one non-live song on the end of the CD, "O Holy Night". I own three other versions of this song by Michael Ball, Aled Jones and Russell Watson, and Josh's version blows all these completely out of the water with the most astonishing vocal performance. I'd buy this DVD/CD just for this one song.

Josh Groban in concert CD and DVD. Fab music and a great concert I am glad that I found him.

Reviews

Hey Eddie Kramer can you hear me? I wish they would have put the entire uncut album (possibly in 5.1 surround sound) on the dvd too, the interviews are great and all but sometimes I just wanna listen to nothing but the music this would and still could have the phenomenal aspect that a lot of people could and would enjoy and just to think what he would be doing now but I've heard that he was burned out from all the attention and overwork and this is what could have cause his demise.

Electric Ladyland has and always will be a classic album. This DVD not only deals with the making of the album, but it shows what was going on with the band and Jimi Hendrix at the time. The movie points out the hellish schedule they would have. It pointed out that they would be on one coast one night and the other coast the next night. At the same time Hendrix would try to make time to record while trying to put together his own recording studio in New York City. It shows how Hendrix would for instance make recordings of guitar music at one speed and play it back at another for special effects. It tells you how he used a comb with wax paper to simulate a kazoo sound for another track. It interviews Michael Finnigan, who played on Rainy day, dream away. Finnigan talks about how Hendrix instructed him to play the music they way he wanted it. It indicates that Hendrix played a harpsichord on Burning of the Midnight Lamp. Hendrix was apparentley a good keyboard player. Hendrix also uses Jack Casady to play bass guitar on some songs, and plays bass himself in Noel Reddings abscence. This is in my mind a very good documentary.....I would recommend it to any Hendrix fan or any serious fan of the Rock of the 60's.

Watching this DVD brings the Hendrix fan closer to the soul that produced this beautiful work of art. The interviews and recollections show how Jimi's personality imprinted on everyone he worked with. They all still miss him terribly. This DVD provides insight into the process Hendrix evolved to in writing and recording his work. After watching this DVD I hear the album in a more informed light. Hendrix was a brilliant shooting star. I also noticed how much Prince copies Jimi's style. Somehow I missed that before this DVD.

It's a shame that one of the best guitarist in rock'n roll died so young. This is great music.

Great video that focuses on the mixing of the individual parts in the studio mixing and really has some great behind the scenes glimpses into the making of this classic album. Very good quality and production. Very interesting to all guitarists interested in classic rock.

Reviews

La Dolce Vita (The Daily Vitamin) has some truly unforgettable cinematography. I was immediately struck by the opening scene of the film where we have the unforgettable sight of a woman with hairy armpits waving at a flying Jesus. I will never get that image out of my head. Then there was the unforgettable fountain scene where Sylvia went wading, and despite the fact that the water was barely knee deep, she wore some kind of floatation vest that was stretching out the top of her dress in an unforgettable way. There was also another unforgettable scene, but I can't remember what it was. Fellini treats us to what seems like a couple dozen nights on the town with the overindulged rich and famous crowd. Yawn. Wild horses couldn't drag me to any of these parties of the comatose, so I found most of the film to be tedious and boring. Of course, that is one of the points Freddy is trying to make. Point well taken, but it felt like being bludgeoned about the head and shoulders for 3 hours. I did learn that the papparazi have always asked the dumbest questions, it's not a recent development. At one point in the film, Fellini takes on organized religion and improper pruning techniques in an unflattering manner. It seems that two little kids found a grilled cheese sandwich with the image of the Madonna burned into it and they buried it, and a magic beanstock grew up in this holy spot. Well, all the self serving religious folk gathered around hoping for a miracle while the kids had fun making sport of them. It started to rain, so the holy people ripped the sacred beanstock to shreds with the hope that they could sell the leaves and stems on Ebay to raise money for a new church on this sacred ground. I think there was a deleted scene where they slaughtered the goose that laid golden eggs too. Good times. At the merciful conclusion of this epic, we see Marcello's character stagger down to the beach to smell the giant dead ray, which isn't a good idea if you've been drinking all night, so he staggers off to the side upwind and sees Nico making gestures to him from across the water. He can't hear her due to the pounding surf. She seems to be offering him salvation from his meaningless life, but since he's hungover and sucks at charades, he gives her a dismissive wave and leaves to find some aspirin. Nico seems happy though. I think she got into typing school. I watched this film 3 times and listened to the "expert" pedestrian commentary to make sure I wasn't missing anything, and I came to the conclusion that some films affect people differently, and this one didn't strike a chord with me the way it did with some others. There is nothing wrong with that, since beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. I've heard the Texas Chainsaw Massacre called a masterpiece, so I rewatched that and saw it as a low budget crapfest that was rendered virtually unwatchable by the last half hour of screaming, but I would be flamed without mercy by the fanboys if I gave it less than 5 stars. I would recommend watching this film as a piece of cinematic history, and if you enjoy it, great, but if not, there should be no shame in that either. Different strokes for different folks. I just didn't see it as a "Masterpiece" and found it neither that entertaining nor profound.

Federico Fellini's widescreen 1960 B&W masterpiece, LA DOLCE VITA (literally "The Sweet Life") has turned fifty years old, but despite some inevitable anachronisms, its theme of alienation of man from modern society still rings true. **SPOILERS** The film has no narrative plot per se, but follows seven days and seven nights in the peripatetic career of feckless, dissatisfied Marcello Rubini the journalist (Marcello Mastroanni). In 1960, Rome's Via Veneto was THE place to see and be seen among the international "Jet Set," a term just coming into use for the elite aggregate of Italian paparazzi, Britishers seeking tax haven, visiting millionaires, celebrities and the just-plain-rich. Sidewalk cafes, cabarets, double-parked cars and Beautiful People jam the Veneto well into the light. Already Marcello is tired of chasing celebs for a living and hopes to elevate himself by climbing the journalistic ladder. But for now, he and his buddy the photojournalist Paparazzo (origin of the term "paparazzi," plural) have to chase with the best of them. Off-duty, Marcello rents for the night a dingy bedroom from a prostitute just to have (probably unsuccessful) sex with old acquaintance Maddalena (Anouk Aimee), to the consternation of his faithful but frustrated girlfriend Emma (Yvonne Furneaux), who attempts suicide. Next morning, Marcello joins an enthusiastic press corps at the airport to greet a busty blonde American sex bomb, Sylvia (played to the hilt by Anita Ekberg), who is both a handful and a headache. Marcello is immediately struck by this vision, even humoring her to scrounge milk for a stray kitten in the middle of the night (think of Charlize Theron vis-à-vis medical echinacea in Woody Allen's 1998 CELEBRITY). But there's a payoff: in one of the many iconic scenes from this movie, a fully-clad Sylvia splashes in the Trevi Fountain, and she is probably sexier in a dress than nude. Marcello joins her in the water and they're about to click, but - the moment passes. The Roman Catholic Church had a hissy when this film came out. The opening sequence shows an enormous figure of Christ hauled by helicopter(!) into Rome. We cut directly to a pseudo-Balinese dance in a nightclub. Fellini was probably what today would be called a "Christian Humanist," but in no way an orthodox Roman Catholic. In juxtaposing Christ with Buddha, Fellini may be implying that if religion is show biz and show biz is religion, is there that much of a difference? Later, Marcello bumps into an old friend, the intellectual Steiner, in a church. This is not an old cathedral redolent of moisture, stone and incense, but a modern church with an almost fascist severity of façade and rows of uniform wooden pews, not benches or seats. One can practically smell the lemon furniture polish. Although Steiner is on good terms with the priest, it seems to him that religion is simply a matter of finding a good organ on which to play Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D-Minor. In a later sequence, when two little children sight an alleged Madonna, the scene quickly turns into a media circus, with a mob of people turned out in curiosity and klieg lights in abundance for newsreel and TV. Marcello, notebook at the ready as always, is told by a priest that miracles do not occur under such riotous circumstances. This seems to be closer to Fellini's own sentiments. Marcello and Emma are invited to a salon at Steiner's in what will be Marcello's first of three attempts to break into what he imagines is a better, more creative class of people whose lives are accomplished and meaningful. At Steiner's, Emma and Marcello both admire their host's civilized living room full of books and music, his pretty wife and his adorable children. But afterward in a private tete-a-tete, Steiner tells Marcello that he could probably get him a job as an editor, but begs him not to work for the "half-fascist" dailies. Steiner confesses that he considers himself a failure, lacking "enough talent to be an amateur, and enough seriousness to be an intellectual." It also seems that the artists at Steiner's salon of the supposed artistic elite from many fields are mostly poseurs, divided about evenly between those who do not speak and are thought fools, and those who do speak and remove any doubt. While speaking with Steiner, Mastroanni's brilliant underacting, not to mention his expressive face, registers first respect for Steiner but then the respect turns to chagrin, pity, disillusionment and ultimately some of Steiner's own depression. Two nights later Marcello -- sans Emma -- winds up in a high-class party full of rich people, high-toned British and faded aristocracy, set in a 500-year-old palazzo. While superficially admiring the edifice's architecture and artworks, the novelty-crazed guests get involved with a séance while Marcello almost gets into a necking session with flirtatious Maddalena. Almost. Later that same night/early a.m. Marcello and Emma get into a howling fight that apparently won't stop until they receive word that Steiner has killed himself and his children. Despite having heard a confession by Steiner of his personal unhappiness, Marcello is shocked at the news. The following night Marcello and an acquaintance from the Via Veneto crash a party of glitterati who try rather desperately to sound informed and with-it, but who settle for small talk and cheap home theatrics fueled by lots of liquor: a couple of gay guys do the Can-Can to a speeded-up version of "Jingle Bells"; and in another of those iconic scenes from this movie, a divorcee (played beautifully by Magali Noel) does a strip-tease to a record of Perez Prado's "Patricia." Marcello tries to organize a proper orgy, but once again the elements do not quite come together. The film ends with yet another daybreak, as the dissolute partygoers find their way to a nearby beach to see a "monster" (monstro), probably a washed-up manta ray. An adolescent girl with whom Marcello once had a chat beckons him to come and see her, but a channel of the sea provides a physical barrier. Marcello smiles wearily, shrugs, and then goes back to the showy mob he has learned to despise, and to whose company he is condemned. LA DOLCE VITA is a film full of ironies, right from its title (nothing about Marcello's life is "sweet"). Fellini abhorred the predations of mass media: photographers and would-be pilgrims stampede what they think is the sight of a miracle, destroying any evidence in the process. Marcello's social and professional climbing does pay off, but usually when he gets there he is still dissatisfied; for him there is no there "there," so to speak. Where are the verities? In what is the film's single most tragic irony, his career advances because of Steiner's suicide. In order to identity the body, the police let him up the stairs into Steiner's flat and in climbing those stairs, he passes a number of fellow journalists. I am indebted to film critic Richard Shickel's remark, in the film's very good Commentary track, that Marcello spatially and symbolically "gets above" the others on his way up "to the top." Perhaps part of Marcello's misfortune was making an idol of a man whose hobby was recording tape-recorded nature sounds, like thunderstorms or birds--blatant symbolism of an ongoing Fellinian theme, modern man's alienation from nature. And of course, Marcello's case is the irony of diminishing returns: the more he pursues truth and verity, the farther away he seems to get. LA DOLCE VITA is not at heart a film about social climbing and career success as in the previous year's film ROOM AT THE TOP. It is more existential: a search for meaning. Marcello's impotence mirrors his unhappiness at life: he can't "get it up" to enthusiastically commit to anything, not even a pretty and adoring girlfriend. Like the polyglot partygoers Marcello hangs with over the course of the week, he can't "get off" by achieving any satisfaction artistically or intellectually. Like Steiner, he realizes he has neither the talent nor the discipline to become a serious writer. Marcello literally tries sex, booze and rock'n'roll, but nothing gets to him. He had hopes that a more serious job will put him in touch with serious things, but by film's end if not before, we know things won't work this way for him. Enough time has passed between the film's international premiere and now that we may be in danger of forgetting its influence. The film played around the world and in so doing made an internationally known director of Fellini and an international star of Marcello Mastroanni, some of whose later roles were similarly disaffected, very "Marcello-ish." A handsome but feckless leading man with a distinct anti-heroish streak was unheard of by most American moviegoers of the time, whose top movie males included stalwarts like John Wayne, Kirk Douglas and Charleton Heston. The boozy private parties that descend into vituperation and self-loathing anticipate such later plays and movies as THE BOYS IN THE BAND and WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLFE? Perhaps no recent American film has been more informed by LA DOLCE VITA than Woody Allen's 1998 CELEBRITY. Similar themes and plot techniques emerge: the equation of organized religion and show business, the spoiled and adored starlet whom the journalist will do almost anything to please, the search for a coherent life in general. Also, in CELEBRITY there is a life-affirming rabbi who inexplicably commits suicide, without even as much forewarning as Fellini had given us. All the major players in LA DOLCE VITA are excellently cast and well played, including former Tarzan Lex Barker as a boozy American actor who has unresolved issues with Sylvia. But ultimately it is Mastroanni's movie, and he played it so well that he became not only an international star, but virtually a symbol of modern (or, if you will, European) disillusionment and anomie. It is to Fellini's and the actor's credit that the Marcello character retains some sympathy even while behaving abominably, registering minimal concern at his girlfriend's suicide attempt, and trying to two- (or is is three?) time her by pursuing cosmetically beautiful women of whom he knows little or nothing. Since there is no unified, three-act structure to this movie, but more of a picaresque form, we count on Marcello to keep us concerned for him and wondering what is to come. A few words as well to Nino Rota's witty musical score, which blends some new "ultramodern" music performed on pre-Moog synthesizer instruments with new compositions for the orchestra, adding quotations from his prior work and American pop culture, such as "Ma, He's Making Eyes at Me" or "Stormy Weather." The Criterion DVD extras are slim but good; they include yellow subtitles and Shickel's expert commentary track. I only wish Shickel had said more about the production values of this film other than that Fellini used the massive Cinecitta complex on the edge of Rome. But this should not obscure the fact that LA DOLCE VITA is an outstanding film. In fact, it came to this reviewer's shock at his first viewing that he had watched a nearly three-hour movie without checking the time or becoming bored. This is a film that I intend to see again and again.

Of all of Fellini's films, this one is the one that most of my friends consider the greatest. I adore it, admire it and consider it a masterpiece. I still feel that `La Strada' and `8 ½' are his more accomplished works and the ones that I immediately flock to when longing for some Fellini, but `La Dolce Vita' (appropriately, or shall I say inappropriately translated `The Sweet Life') is an outstanding representation of how advanced foreign cinema is from what we experience here in the states. In 1960 this Italian gem possessed more gusto, more acute sense of realism and more profound intellect than nearly 90% of what we had released stateside. I'm not knocking American cinema (for I love it) but I am also moved by how much more realism and passion is found in foreign releases; especially those released in the 50's and 60's, before the 70's changed the way American cinema was constructed. This film basically follows the aimlessness that permeates the life of Marcello Rubini (an astonishing Marcello Mastroianni), a journalist who is striving to make something more meaningful of his work yet finds himself almost `struck' in the world of glamour, prestige and debauchery. He is blinded by his ambitions, which are lost amidst the glitz and glamour that is splashing itself all around him. Moving from one party to another, from one woman to another, from one drink to another; Rubini becomes another statistic, losing what makes him distinct and falling into the rut of complete abandonment. The final moment, on the beach, where he just abandons all hope of change and walks away...I mean WOW. This film is a complete showcase for Mastroianni, who just runs us through the gamut of emotions with his three-dimensional character. He delivers charm, wit, rage, depression, sensuality, hysteria, apathy...everything. Watch the way he completely crumbles without moving a muscle when he realizes what a (close?) friend is capable of. Notice the way he reacts to his fiancés rash decisions. Watch the way he completely explodes when finally pushed too far into the hole he is trying desperately to climb out of (that confrontation with his fiancé is just brilliant). He is just marvelous, from top to bottom. This film is a brilliant look at the way life can encompass and conform you, even when you are fighting fervently against that said conformation. It showcases the way you can become completely overtaken to the point where your struggle is apparently in vain and you guard is destroyed and next thing you know you have given up and embraced all that this `sweet life' has to offer. Sweetness has never left such a sour taste.

Warning! -- Avoid this edition. The subtitles are hideous, yellow, and intrusive. They are laid over the picture and absolutely ruin the image. I know there is a letterbox edition where the subtitles are white and appear below the picture. Find and purchase that edition, not this one!

I NEVER let boredom get in the way, and always watch a picture til its end. I had to take a nap in the middle of this one. It's one of the most unbearable, boring films I have EVER watch, and I've seen a few (10 in the last week). Lars Von Trier's "Antichrist" was pure fun and action in comparison!!! Once it was over, I saved the case and threw the movie away. There's not plenty of room in my house...

Reviews

The elegant Catherine (Fanny Ardant) discovers her husband, Gerard Depardieu is doing what men do...having a "banal" affair. When Catherine asks her husband for details, her husband can't or won't provide them. Catherine hires a prostitute, the gorgeous Emmanuelle Beart, to seduce her husband and reveal her husband's erotic proclivities. Nathalie's ensuing tales of lust and passion propagate an understated sexual tension between her and Catherine that will make any viewer weak in the knees. A surprisingly good movie. I didn't think there could be a more unlikely romance, but by the end of this film I was begging for Catherine and Nathalie to "just kiss already". What can I say? I'm a hopeless romantic. The erotic talk, the slow seduction, two gorgeous and intelligent women, scotch and cigarettes, broken hearts and understated lust, Paris, feminine vulnerability and strength...probably the most sexy movie I've seen. Recommended.

I figured out pretty quickly (as did most people, I imagine) that the hooker (Beart) hired by the wife (Ardan) to service her husband (Depardieu) was describing sexual encounters that never occurred. The movie owns up to this fact rather late in the story and makes that a key plot point, which fell flat on me because it told me what I already knew. Far better for the movie to have gone boldly where Maupassant took the story and show a love affair developing between Beart and Ardan, I mean way beyond the sly hints we get, and then have the husband find out and show how he reacts to the event. Does he fight to get his wife back? Does he do something violent? Does he throw in the towel and move on with his life? Does he throw himself into the river (as in M's story)? All these are far more interesting options than the one chosen. If M could write a love story between two beautiful women in mid-19th century, I should think someone could do that today. Okay, maybe not as well because M was a master story teller and his command of French prose was way beyond what a screenwriter could do. Still, opportunity missed. By the way, the sleazy DVD cover is misleading. Beart handles her portrayal of a "belle de jour" with restraint. She doesn't do a strip tease in the movie.

Nathalie is an excellent film with subtle and smart writing and beautiful camera work. Fanny Ardant displays subtle sophistication in the lead role as Catherine. Her husband Bernard, played by Gerard Depardieu, has grown distant and unfaithful. Her insecurity prompts her to commission Marlene, played by Emmanuelle Béart, to seduce him. She gives her the pseudonym of "Nathalie" and they slowly start to peel back the layers of their relationships and their own psyches. The resulting story is a closely woven series of rendezvous where each of the characters plays off of the emotions of their counterparts. For the most part, our triangle is never all together save for a few brief moments. Instead, the dynamic of this film is the one-on-one interactions that they share that reveal how their feelings for one another allow them to be manipulated and hurt. It's also an exploration of what makes them unwilling to simply let go of their damaging relationships. Watching this film brings to mind the parallels between the love triangle of "Nathalie" and the love rectangle of Closer. Whereas the storyline in "Closer" is more driven by a combination of plot elements and character pathos, "Nathalie" is almost entirely focused on the inner torment and psychological games played by and on the central characters. This is a very cerebral and theatrical film. While "Closer" was also written for the stage prior to being made into a film, it has a more traditional plot. Here, the message is much more complicated and the plot is circuitous. That does not takes nothing away from the strong character studies that we have in the film. But the abrupt and questionable conclusion slightly detracts from the story's effectiveness. I would really love to know how many alternate endings were considered by the film makers before they settled on this one. From a technical standpoint, this film is also worthy of study, with each scene expertly lit and filmed. Beart in particular is framed beautifully, and I believe symbolically, in her scenes. Each still is like a painting. This is an achievement that the director of photography should be applauded for. If you enjoy thoughtful psychological character studies, this film is absolutely worth buying and watching again and again. Beart, Depardieu and Ardant hold an actor's clinic for us to study and enjoy. The slow and deliberate plot and somewhat soft conclusion will not satisfy those looking for a more traditional story. But the creativity and depth of these character is sure to appeal to lovers of acting and French cinema. Enjoy.

Anne Fontaine's Nathalie is a French infidelity story starring Gérard Depardieu and Fanny Ardant (8 Women, Callas Forever) as a Parisian married couple, Bernard and Catherine. Catherine (a gynecologist who knows little about sex) discovers that Bernard is having an affair, which is not so unusual for a French film where an affair such as Bernard's is considered to be little more than a "nuisance." "It doesn't count," Bernard says, shrugging it off; "It's too banal to talk about." What sets Nathalie apart from other such films is Catherine's response to her discovery. After a couple of shots of whiskey, she hires Marlène (Emmanuelle Béart8 Women, Un Coeur en Hiver), the prettiest prostitute she can find, to act as "Nathalie" to seduce her husband, and then report back with all the lurid details. Rather than throwing him out, or ignoring his infidelity, Catherine uses "Nathalie" to learn more about her husband's sexual desires. He "jumped on me like he hadn't done it in years," Marlène at first reports to Catherine. Eventually, Marlène's reports to Catherine grow wilder and wilder, and through their conversations about the hard truths of human sexuality, the two become friends (with a lesbian subtext). Most of the film's action occurs in these conversations. Rather than merely thinking she knows everything about sexuality, Catherine is determined to really know what's going on, making this an interesting sexual-coming-of-age film in the same tradition as Belle de Jour and Romance. Stunning Ardant and extraordinarily beautiful Béart bring great performances to the film, which includes Leonard Cohen in the soundtrack. Except for the predictable ending, this is a nearly perfect French film. G. Merritt

Fanny Ardant plays Catherine, a gynecologist of a certain age, who discovers that her husband Benard (Gerard Depardieu) is cheating on her. She wonders if this is a onetime thing or something he does regularly. So she hires a prostitute (Emmanuelle Beart as Marlene/Nathalie) to test him. When the test turns up positive, Catherine wants to hear the intimate details which Marlene agreeably supplies. The details of exactly what they do would seem a bit hard to take for the spouse who is being cheated on, and Catherine does find some of the descriptions unsavory. However she insists on hearing them. The viewer begins to wonder if Catherine is not being sexually aroused by these details (which is what Marlene thinks) or is of a masochistic frame of mind. As Catherine and Marlene draw closer together the viewer now begins to wonder if Catherine herself would like to have a sexual relationship with Marlene. Since a lot of the tension in the movie relies on just what it is that Catherine wants, I won't reveal the answer. She claims to love her husband but as the details get seamier and seamier she decides she no longer knows whether she loves him or not. How this will resolve itself is what kept me watching. The ending is a bit of a surprise. See if you can guess it. Ardant is excellent, although her long suffering face may become a bit tedious for some. Beart is very good as a skillful and opportunistic prostitute, almost too good perhaps because I found her a bit creepy. She was 40-years-old when this was released and there is nary a line on her face. Ardant's look was natural and, for me anyway, more agreeable. Both women are of course two of the most celebrated stars of the French cinema as is Depardieu, whose part is rather modest. Anne Fontaine's direction is clear and focused. While not your typical "chick flick"--certainly it is not like American chick flick faire--this is nonetheless very much a woman's point of view movie with the kind of agreeable ending that will please most viewers regardless of sex. Best line and typical of the kind of psychology presented is this from Catherine as she is talking to Marlene: "Jealousy. For men it's a reflex." See this for Fanny Ardant who has that Catherine Deneuve quality of growing more beautiful as she gets older, a talented actress who always carries herself well.