EightyProof has already done a great job describing the specialness of this film, but I wanted to add a little more. Tenderness was shown last weekend as part of the annual French Film Festival at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. One of last year's films, The Minister , cemented my fascination for Olivier Gourmet's effortless acting style, so I made sure to see this piece, but little did i know that the real highlight of the film would be the character of as portrayed by the utterly delightful Marilyne Canto. For me, the film was really about HER. Whether that was the director's intention, I don't know, but while i was watching, it was as if I could FEEL the director becoming enamored of this enigmatic and charming Tinker Belle. Throughout the film, she just has this endearing slight smile that guides and protects her through life as she embraces the new and unknown at every turn. Not in any major situations, just in all the little moments of life.
After it kept revisiting my consciousness the next day, I said to my husband, "You know, it's a shame; i think Olivier/Franz was the real loser in that divorce. But he clearly never understood her or that it was his loss....." .