THE GIRL FROM NOWHERE

(A.k.a. LA FILLE DE NULLE PART)

"No-one knows what the future holds for them".

Denis (Claude Morel) is a former maths teacher who now aspires to be an author. He's lived alone in his flat for 29 years, ever since the death of his wife.

One morning he's disturbed by a ruckus occurring on the stairway outside his apartment door. Upon inspection, he discovers a young man bloodily beating a pretty blonde. Denis scares the man off and takes the girl in.

He soon learns that her name is Dora (Virginie Legeay), she is of no fixed abode, and she is insistent upon his agreement that no police or doctors be contacted while she recovers in his flat.

Enlisting the discreet services of his doctor friend of some three decades, Denis gets Dora patched up and then agrees to let her stay under his roof while she regains her strength. With her pretty looks, childlike inquisitive nature and calm confidence, she breathes new life into the aging scholar's lonely life. The only time they even approach an argument is when she watches video footage of him visiting a former colleague in an insane asylum, and asks if it has anything to do with the book Denis is working on. He's not happy with her line of questioning and swiftly reminds her of his rights to privacy.

More notably, the pair notice a few strange things happening in Denis' apartment during Dora's stay there - such as strange noises emanating from the utility cupboard, and discarded fag ends which appear to move of their own accord.

One week later, she announces that she's leaving: a male friend picks her up outside the apartment on his moped. Denis is gutted and mopes around in self pity afterwards. Even bumping into a pretty young former student, the flirtatious Lise (Lise Bellynck), can't raise his spirits.

Thankfully for Denis, Dora returns a few days later - discovering her friend lying flat-out on his apartment floor. She tells him she occasionally receives premonitions, such as the one that told her her parents had died in a car accident, and that she has seen visions of Denis being tormented by evil spirits in his apartment...

Denis is just happy to have his platonic companion back, and agrees with her suggestion that she should move in with him and help him with his book. This they do, but those strange occurrences in the flat keep happening. What's going on? What is Dora's background? How much do we actually know about Denis, for that matter? And, ultimately, how much do these two need to know about one another, if the simple fact is that they bring light into each other's otherwise barren lives?

A slow-burning drama with the mild suggestion of a supernatural strain throughout, THE GIRL FROM NOWHERE is also a plainly low budget affair. The small cast, largely interior setting and HD video photography ensure that we're always aware of writer-director Jean-Claude Brisseau's film's 62,000 Euro budget. That's chicken-feed by modern day standards.

Despite some heavily handled conversations which probe Capitalism, Christianity and more intimate matters such as loneliness and the aging process, Brisseau mostly manages to overcome his budgetary restrictions by way of quietly compelling scene set-ups and nuanced low-key performances from the excellent two leads.

Not much happens in terms of action, but there is a satisfying trajectory for both characters which dictates that by the end you will be moved. Even if the film hasn't quite followed the path it suggests it's going to earlier into proceedings. It's very much a tale of love, loss and redemption - and a fairly polite one at that.

Matchbox Films' UK DVD presents THE GIRL FROM NOWHERE uncut in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio, enhancing the picture for 16x9 television sets.

Shot on HD video the picture quality is certainly sharp and clean enough, although there is a rather faded palette to proceedings and edge enhancement - which is in evidence - is wholly unnecessary.

French 2.0 audio is good throughout, while the burned-in English subtitles are consistently well-written and easy to read.

A static main menu page replicates the DVD cover art. The disc's scene-selection menu is also static, and affords access to the film via 16 chapters.

The only extra is THE GIRL FROM NOWHERE's original 109-second trailer.

THE GIRL FROM NOWHERE is an interesting, engaging and low-key French drama that may tease us with the notion of the supernatural on occasion but is actually far more interested in what is, in essence, a rather unconventional love story and a meditation on the fundamentals of life to boot. There's a faint whiff of the pretentious about it, of course. But if anyone can get away with that, it's the French - and, on this occasion, they do.

Review by Stuart Willis