Written and Directed by Danielle Arbid
Starring Laetitia Dosch, Sergeï Polunin, Lou-Temour Thion
Unrated (but contains copious full-frontal nudity and sex)
Runtime: 99 passion-filled minutes
Opens in select theaters January 21

by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer

Simple Passion, about the all-consuming desires Hélène (Laetitia Dosch), a divorced, single mother in Paris, has for Aleksandre (Sergeï Polunin), a younger Russian man, will work best for viewers who share Hélène’s romantic obsession. It is not just about enjoying the couple’s hot trysts, which are filmed in an intimate style. It is how Hélène daydreams about Aleksandre on the metro—almost missing her stop—or when she admires a nude statue during an impromptu trip to Florence. (The body reminds her of Aleksandre). Hélène is so preoccupied with her lover that she waits, impatiently, for him to call, and cherishes their brief moments together, always wanting them to last longer. 

Writer-director Danielle Arbid, adopting Annie Ernaux’s novel, captures all of this well in her glossy film. Like Hélène, viewers may find them themselves waiting for the couple’s next sexual encounter. (The sex scenes, which feature full nudity by both actors, are more sensual than erotic). They form the bulk of the film, because there is not much in the way of a plot.

Much of the film’s first hour depicts Hélène waiting to meet Aleksandre or being in the throes of ecstasy with him. She teaches at a university and largely neglects Paul (Lou-Temour Thion), her young son. Aleksandre, who works in the Russian embassy, is married, and dictates when and where they will meet. Usually they hook up at her house and sometimes on the spur of the moment. Hélène is almost always ready. Moreover, she is less concerned with issues of fidelity than she is about feeling jealous when Aleksandre takes his wife to Lake Baikal.   

Simple Passion chronicles how this affair impacts Hélène. She tries to keep her lives with Paul and Aleksandre separate. She does an internet search on Aleksandre to admire his photo. She buys a romance novel, and shops for clothing for her assignations with her lover. She simply cannot stop thinking about him. And yet, his character is mostly enigmatic. It is the mystery of him, along with his fit physique—Polunin was a famed ballet dancer before he became an actor—that may be what makes him so attractive to her.

Laetitia Dosch is convincing as a woman who is so in love that she puts almost everything on hold should her lover call. There is an element of madness in this, and the film gets at that in its latter half, when the couple stops meeting so frequently and Hélène becomes despondent. The film’s tension is in the question Hélène does not want answered: “Will it be our last time?” 

Arbid is practically edging viewers to feel the longing and desire which might stop at any moment; that is what makes this torrid romance so satisfying. Viewers become invested with the characters and scrutinize their every moment together. When Aleksandre tells Hélène, “I’ve never felt this with anyone,” adding, “Fucking you is so good,” is he being sincere? When Hélène films Alexandre driving, to remember him, he fondles her breast, and between her legs. It is a sexy moment that allows her to record not just an image but a feeling he gives her. 

He obviously has the control in the relationship, which does not do much for the film’s feminism—hinted at in a chat Hélène has with a girlfriend—but the question arises: Is she being exploited? It comes as no surprise that Hélène is the one to utter those three little words, “I love you,” because she cannot resist him. But will that that confession be what changes the dynamic between them—or will something else end their affair?

Simple Passion shows how Hélène’s mind is so taken with thoughts of her lover every day that she forgets everything else. (She almost backs over Paul with her car when she drops him off for a soccer game.) She is so fixated on Aleksandre that she imagines him everywhere on the street in one telling sequence. And her despair at losing Aleksandre is palpable. But the film falters a bit in focusing more on how she can slip into such addiction and less on how she can overcome it, which dilutes its power. 

Dosch conveys Hélène’s extremes well, but her character, like Aleksandre’s, is mostly one-dimensional which can be frustrating. For his part, Polunin really does not have much to do other than be sexy, enigmatic, and naked. Thankfully, the attractive actors are expressive, and their passions feel real. 

Both modest and refined, Simple Passion is a well-made, good-looking tale of amour fou.