Die Spitzenklöpplerin

The Lacemaker

Beatrice is an assistant at a Paris hairdressing salon. The shy 18-year-old lives modestly with her single mother. Her only friend is a co-worker with an active love life. When the two go on a seaside holiday together, Beatrice meets upper-class philosophy student François and falls in love. Back in Paris, she moves in with him, renovates the apartment, and keeps house. But François soon begins to have misgivings. He is embarrassed by his girlfriend's lower social status and lack of education. He prepares to break up with Beatrice … She acknowledges that she will never figure out what he is thinking.

In her first international film hit, Isabelle Huppert is plain and withdrawn playing a young woman – with freckles, intractable red hair, and an almost childlike gravity – who suffers in silence before cracking under the pressure of her first love. "The Lacemaker" represents both a prophesy and a promise. "She was one of those souls who must be patiently questioned, upon whom you must know how to turn your glance", a coda at the end of the film tells us. That applies equally to the character and the young actor who has just spent several minutes staring steadfastly into the camera.

Source: 72. internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)