The Lacemaker


The Lacemaker is a 1977 French drama film directed by Claude Goretta and starring Isabelle Huppert and Yves Beneyton. It is based on the 1974 Prix Goncourt winning novel La Dentellière by Pascal Lainé.

Plot

In Paris, the shy and virginal Béatrice lives with her mother and works in a hairdressing salon, where her only friend is the lively Marylène. Left by her lover, Marylène suggests that the two girls take a holiday by the sea at Cabourg. There Marylène soon goes off with a new man, leaving Béatrice on her own.
Befriended by the shy student François, the two become lovers and Béatrice moves into his room in Paris. Though he introduces her to his well-off parents and his intellectual friends, she is unable to mix in their worlds. Her deep reserve begins to annoy him and they split up. Losing interest in life, she ends up in a mental hospital.
Full of remorse, François visits her but she wants nothing: she has found a quiet place that suits her inwardness. In her silent anonymity, she is like the unknown girls in paintings such as Vermeer's The Lacemaker.

Cast

Awards and nominations