Winner of the Golden Bear prize at the 2004 Berlin Film festival, Confidences Trop Intimes (Intimate Relations) invites us to eavesdrop on a series of erotically charged conversations between the enigmatic Anna (Sandrine Bonnaire) and the man she mistakenly believes to be a therapist.

The confusion begins when Anna knocks on the door of a dusty office she supposes to be that of Dr. Monnier, a relationship specialist she seeks out to help rectify her sexless marriage. In knocking on the wrong door however, she is instead confronted with straight-laced tax accountant William Faber (Fabrice Luchini), who initially believes his visitor to be seeking financial advice. It soon becomes clear the woman in front of him requires assistance of a very different nature however, as Anna candidly begins to discuss her husband's sexual inadequacies with the man in front of her. After listening intently to his supposed new client - and naturally finding the subject more exciting than the piles of impending tax returns on his desk - William casually neglects to reveal his true identity and a further appointment between the pair is arranged.

The great majority of this film is set within the confines of a dingy, antiquated office, both characters helplessly becoming addicted to the thrill of the intimate conversations taking place within. In each other Anna and William find an indispensable comfort, and their relationship gradually evolves into an inadvertent friendship, albeit a friendship running with deep erotic undertones. There is little sub-plot to distract us from the main story, which adds layer upon layer to Anna's dejected character until we almost suffocate under the weight of her melancholy emotional state. The ambiguity surrounding this mysterious woman and her marriage is laid on thick throughout, and, as may well be expected of such an intensely emotional film, the ending remains inconclusive about the true motives of the characters involved.

Though essentially a dark, sensual drama, Confidences Trop Intimes has enough intelligence to realise it must also entertain, and conquers this feat well with touches of light humour throughout. Sandrine Bonnaire simply perspires seductiveness from start to finish, and Fabrice Luchini is entirely believable as a middle-aged toy collector who enjoys reading books 'about England and its rather grey, gloomy people'. Confidences Trop Intimes might not make us any cooler, but at the very least it will make us more careful when knocking on doors.

William Summers, 17/6/04