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Dry Cleaning

Original title: Nettoyage à sec
  • 1997
  • Unrated
  • 1h 33m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
1.2K
YOUR RATING
Dry Cleaning (1997)
FrenchDrama

A bored couple takes in a young man who turns their lives inside out.A bored couple takes in a young man who turns their lives inside out.A bored couple takes in a young man who turns their lives inside out.

  • Director
    • Anne Fontaine
  • Writers
    • Anne Fontaine
    • Gilles Taurand
  • Stars
    • Miou-Miou
    • Charles Berling
    • Stanislas Merhar
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.7/10
    1.2K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Anne Fontaine
    • Writers
      • Anne Fontaine
      • Gilles Taurand
    • Stars
      • Miou-Miou
      • Charles Berling
      • Stanislas Merhar
    • 18User reviews
    • 17Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 wins & 6 nominations total

    Photos10

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    Top Cast18

    Edit
    Miou-Miou
    Miou-Miou
    • Nicole
    • (as Miou Miou)
    • …
    Charles Berling
    Charles Berling
    • Jean-Marie…
    Stanislas Merhar
    Stanislas Merhar
    • Loïc…
    Mathilde Seigner
    Mathilde Seigner
    • Marylin…
    Nanou Meister
    • Yvette…
    Noé Pflieger
    • Pierre…
    Michel Bompoil
    • Robert
    Christopher King
    • Steve
    Gérard Blanc
    • Bertrand
    Betty Petristy
    • Bertrand's wife
    Bobby Pacha
    • Le patron Ranch…
    Corinne Nejman
    • Josiane…
    Thérèse Gehin
    • Maryse…
    Joëlle Grégorie
    • Banane…
    Caroline Galiani
    • Danseuse
    Pascal Allio
    • Danseur
    Thomas Seiler
    • Danseur
    Sue
    • Danseur
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Anne Fontaine
    • Writers
      • Anne Fontaine
      • Gilles Taurand
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews18

    6.71.2K
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    Featured reviews

    Kirpianuscus

    old idea

    the idea is far to be now. the performances - decent. in fact, correct use of stereotype who was imposed by Teorema. the young seductive man. the wife remembering Madame Bovary. the husband on the top of solitude. provocative scenes and dialogues. not real surprising end. the only memory after few years after I saw it - the atmosphere. the ambiguous sexuality, the crisis of marriage and the last decision. and nothing more because the film is just occasion to intrigue, seduce and propose an idea who represents part of many couples fear.
    6afterdarkpak

    french people, or french mind.

    Recently i watched some or many french movies about husband n wife relationship. i really dont understand or what i understand that what the hek is going on with french people? . or maybe its just movies. as movies represent its people too.

    A movie about married couple with 2 kids and BOTH very busy with their dry cleaning business. seems normal till they enjoyed much in EXOTIC club. and then another young stud character came in their lives + home. which turns everything upside.

    ----------------------spoilers----------------------

    the thing i dont understand is , a normal French married couple SUDDENLY invite a GIGLO to their business + home + lives after soo many years of marriage. even that young giglo has its own intentions to that couple after being dumped by his own gf. even a husband knows from a start that he WANTS and is getting into his wife pants but still OK with it ? . and that french wife? . she didnt think about her own children n family and suddenly want to leave everything for that guy. that is kinda too much.

    never ever invite a horny young guy into home where a bored housewife is already on heat.
    10fps37

    An excellent film, in direction and acting, with an abrupt and surprising ending.

    This story of a French couple, middle class business people leading a life that they only find boring when they encounter a young, free spirited and unisexual man, takes some weird turns but does it with excellent performances and direction. Though the ending was a bit abrupt, as well as shocking, getting there was the fun - well, pleasure, maybe. The young man has an affair with the woman, and is clearly drawn toward the man as while. The husband's reaction is the key to the drama, and the actor's subtle signs of being tempted, against his nature and resisting all the way , are truly fine acting. The whole cast is excellent, and the sensual , open tone of the movie, mixing the fairly straight-laced couple, their young child, middle class friends and family, and the worldly young man and depicting them, ultimately, as not really all that different, is almost comforting...until that ending, which came rather fast and furious after a more slow moving development, shattering the mood. Still, this is a really fine job of direction, and development of characters who all seem far more common than we would think if merely being told about them.
    9bob998

    Terence Stamp did it

    It's a cinematic tradition: the handsome young man who insinuates himself into a household of boring bourgeois types and stirs things up. Terence Stamp did it in Teorema, Robert Forster in Reflections in a Golden Eye, Peter McEnery in Entertaining Mr. Sloane, Will Smith in Six Degrees of Separation. Here, the young man is a bisexual who quickly wins the heart of a frustrated Miou-Miou and disturbs the dull, penny-pinching boss of a dry cleaners, Berling. The script and direction by Anne Fontaine are assured, but the ending may leave some viewers perplexed (it did me), as it seems to come out of nowhere.

    Stanislas Merhar deserved the Most Promising Actor Cesar that he won as the pretty boy; you can readily see why the wife can't get enough of his caresses. Charles Berling often plays men who suffer in silence; he has a wonderful way of tightening his mouth that speaks volumes, and here he's very good as the husband.
    7petshop

    average movie with a great ending

    An interesting and somewhat mysterious tale of a middle aged couple who grow disillusioned with their dry cleaning business and find outlet with a cross dressing brother-sister-lover couple of performers. Their mutual obsession naturally leads to the demise of their relationships, businesses and ultimately their lives.

    The script is a bit dry, and lacks the punch that the subject matter is capable of delivering. Near the final act it tries to catch up as the homosexual attraction between the young man and the older husband comes zooming out of nowhere. A good editor would've suggested they drop some kind of hint earlier on.

    The abrupt and troubling ending leaves you satisfied.

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    Related interests

    Jean-Pierre Léaud in The 400 Blows (1959)
    French
    Naomie Harris, Mahershala Ali, Janelle Monáe, André Holland, Herman Caheej McGloun, Edson Jean, Alex R. Hibbert, and Tanisha Cidel in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Soundtracks
      Texas Rocker
      Written by Alan Darby

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    FAQ19

    • How long is Dry Cleaning?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 29, 1999 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • France
      • Spain
    • Languages
      • French
      • English
      • Russian
    • Also known as
      • Peglanje nasuvo
    • Filming locations
      • Basel, Kanton Basel Stadt, Switzerland
    • Production companies
      • Cinéa
      • Les Films Alain Sarde
      • Maestranza Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $14,919
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $14,919
      • Feb 7, 1999
    • Gross worldwide
      • $14,919
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 33m(93 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.66 : 1

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