Entangled Parisian Lives at Heart of Stylish ‘Chinois’

With her second feature, “Portraits Chinois,” Martine Dugowson takes a wry look at a group of Parisian thirtysomethings steeped in self-absorption, sporting slightly shaggy looks and searching for love wherever they can find it and with little regard to the consequences. While this film hasn’t the scope or the depth of Dugowson’s standout debut feature, “Mina Tannenbaum,” a story of the ups and downs of a lifelong friendship between two women, it is sharply observant in an amused way and maintains the light, brisk touch crucial for a film more comedy than drama.

At the center of a clutch of entangled lives is Helena Bonham Carter’s Ada, an Englishwoman who for 10 years has been a top designer at a Paris fashion establishment run firmly by its proprietor, Rene Sandre (Jean-Claude Brialy). She and her lover of a decade, Paul (Jean-Philippe Ecoffey), have taken a vast apartment in an old building that is perhaps a bit beyond their means. Since things haven’t been going all that great between them, Ada instantly decides she must have been out of her mind to have made this move with Paul but decides to make the best of it.

In the meantime Sandre announces he is taking on a young designer, Lise (Romane Bohringer), and adds that he is concerned that Ada has become a bit too sure of herself. As if this weren’t enough for Ada to deal with, Lise has had a crush on Paul for years, ever since as a young teenager she waited on Ada and Paul’s group at her father’s cafe. Now Lise is coming on strong to Paul, and her timing may be just right, for Paul not only is feeling edgy about Ada but also is struggling with his writing partner, Guido (Sergio Castellito), to come up with a script long overdue for their producer Alphonse (Mini Manojlovic) and director Yves (Yvan Attal).

Yves is married to the lovely Nina (Marie Trintignant), who is adored by Guido. Mixing in this tricky group is Emma (Elsa Zylberstein), a would-be actress and cabaret artist whose only talent seems to be for compulsive shopping. (Bohringer and Zylberstein were “Mina Tannenbaum’s” stars.)

“Portraits Chinois” has an effortless flow, a lively sense of spontaneity, a first-rate cast, and it makes an entertaining case for the importance of looking beyond yourself and growing up. The result is a minor but stylish work that pleases because it doesn’t promise more than it can deliver.

* Unrated. Times guidelines: Language, adult themes and situations.

‘Portraits Chinois’

(‘Shadow Play’)

Helena Bonham Carter: Ada

Romane Bohringer: Lise

Elsa Zylberstein: Emma

Jean-Philippe Ecoffey: Paul

A Phaedra Cinema release. Writer-director Martine Dugowson. Producer Georges Benouyan. Co-writer/composer Peter Chase. Cinematographer Vincenzo Marano. Editor Noelle Boisson. Production designer Pierre Guffroy. In French, with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes.

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