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Chicago – Léa Seydoux is blessed with the sort of face that appears to convey a thousand different emotions without ever having to move a muscle. Her smile is beautiful but it almost feels like an intrusion, breaking the exquisite mystery of her passive, brooding expressions. Much has been written about her resemblance to Godard’s muse, Anna Karina, which perhaps inspired New Wave successor Christophe Honoré to direct her in this evocative drama.

“La belle personne” (a.k.a. “The Beautiful Person”) could’ve easily been made in the ’60s. Within the walls of its claustrophobic school, hormonal urges and repressed desires materialize in the form of pointed glances and scribbled notes as opposed to Facebook posts. Gossip is spread the old fashioned way, without the assistance of a Twitter feed. Body language emerges as the primary tool of communication. When a tight embrace is mistaken for a kiss, it can lead to devastating consequences.

• If you're the art-house/subtitle type then helmer Christophe Honoré needs no introductions. With an output like his, a recent string of pictures such as Ma Mere, In Paris and most recently, Love Songs, you know it's just a question of time before his next project is unveiled. Cineuropa recently filled us in on the Frenchman's latest project (a pic that will once again feature Honoré's muse: Louis Garrel) and which was compared to Laurent Cantet’s brilliant exposé of Paris' urban jungle a.k.a high school and Palme d'or winner Entre Les murs because of the likeliness of the setting. Co-written by the director and Gilles Taurand, La Belle Personne is a contemporary adaptation of French literary classic The Princess of Cleves by Madame de La Fayette (1678). The film retraces the misadventures of Junie (Seydoux, mademoiselle de Chartres in the book). Aged 16, the young girl changes high

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