Mademoiselle Else

"Mademoiselle Else" is an adaptation in video of Fräulein Else, a novel by Arthur Schnitzler. It is the account in the first person of the last days of a young girl from a good family who, on holiday in the Alps, has to ask Dorsday, an old art agent and bon-vivant for money to help her father, a Viennese lawyer ridden with debts. Dorsday asks in exchange to be allowed to admire her nude. Scenes shot in the Alps break up the story to allow Else to literally distance herself from the rest of the film shot in the studio, a dark room that becomes the recipient of the various mental projections of the young girl. These two different environments enable us to understand the comings and goings in the Else who weighs herself up and Else who weighs up the situation. As it is indeed at Else's level, around sexual benchmarks, that Schnitzler develops his critique of liberalism.

Directed by Isabelle Prim, Mademoiselle Else leans on a strong ensemble — Jean-Pierre Beauviala, Isabelle Prim — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 2010.