Some women will go to extremes to feel loved. Take Jeanne, the heroine of “The Girl on the Train,” written and directed by one of France’s most applauded filmmakers, André Téchiné.
In a scene that might make you wince, Jeanne cuts herself on the face and draws swastikas on her stomach, then claims she was the victim of an anti-Semitic attack on a suburban Paris train, even though she’s not Jewish.
The incident, based on a real case, causes a nationwide media sensation, and even the president of France calls Jeanne to express support.
But, as Jeanne later admits, “I wanted to be loved, and the opposite happened.”
Belgian actress Émilie Dequenne gives a smoldering performance as Jeanne, including a hot Web cam scene.
She even holds her own against the great Catherine Deneuve, who has frequently worked with Téchiné. Here she’s Jeanne’s mother, Louise, a lonely widow who works as a baby sitter and enjoys tending the flowers at her suburban home.
Téchiné divides the film into two parts. The first deals mainly with Jeanne’s relationship with a tattooed professional wrestler (Nicolas Duvauchelle) who turns out to be a drug dealer. Part 2 concerns a big-shot lawyer (Michel Blanc, excellent), who’s an old friend of Louise’s and helps Jeanne with the legal complications of her act.
Also drawn into the maelstrom are the lawyer’s rebellious son, Alex (Mathieu Demy), and Alex’s estranged wife, played by that wonderful Israeli actress Ronit Elkabetz. (Remember “The Band’s Visit”?)
But it is Dequenne who holds the film together — she and Téchiné’s youthful touch, which belies his 66 years.