I have to admit that I watched this the first time because of my admiration for the performances of Sophie Marceau. I watched it several times more because of the interesting portrayal of the power of desire presented by oustanding acting and a rich "period piece" production. Should your friends belittle the story as formulaic and the ending as too easy, ignore them. They have missed the richness of the flow of events in this movie that portrays a more repressed world where women (and, to a lesser degree, men) had different and more limited options and necessarily pursued their opportunities differently. This movie was so well done, it leaves you wishing it were an hour longer.
