Nelly and Mr. Arnaud

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Nelly and Mr. Arnaud
Directed by	Claude Sautet
Produced by	Antoine Gannagé, Alain Sarde
Written by	Jacques Fieschi, Claude Sautet, Yves Ulmann
Starring	Emmanuelle Béart, Michel Serrault, Jean-Hugues Anglade
Music by	Philippe Sarde
Cinematography	Jean-François Robin
Editing by	Jacqueline Thiédot
Release date(s)	1995
Running time	106 min.
Country	France, Italy, Germany
Language	French
IMDb profile

Nelly and Mr. Arnaud (Nelly et Monsieur Arnaud) is a 1995 French movie directed by Claude Sautet and starring Michel Serrault, Emmanuelle Béart and Jean-Hugues Anglade. It won the César Award for Best Director and Best Actor from Michel Serrault.

[edit] Plot summary

Nelly (Béart) is married to Jerôme (Berling), a man who has stopped working or searching for work. Nelly has a part-time job at a printing shop but she has fallen six months behind on the rent for the apartment in which she lives with her husband.

Talking with Jacquelline at a coffee shop, she meets Pierre Arnaud, a wealthy, retired businessman. After determining Nelly is encumbered with debt, Arnaud spontaneously decides to give Nelly 30,000 francs as a gift. Nelly reluctantly accepts, pays off her overdue rent and moves out of the apartment.

Nelly agrees to type up Arnaud's memoirs, but Arnaud insists this will not be to repay the money he already gave her, he will pay her for this work. Nelly thus learns more about Arnaud's life: he was a judge in a French colony, and later a businessman. Nelly has an affair with Arnaud's editor. Arnaud feels a little jealous.