PRICELESS (hors de prix) (French)
The Story:
Gorgeous Irène (Audrey Tautou) loves her life as the girlfriend of an ultra-wealthy, much-older man (Vernon Dobtcheff). The clothes, the shoes, the food, the five-star hotels! But he gets drunk and passes out on the night of her birthday, and so late that night she heads to the hotel bar for some company. What she finds is an empty bar--no barman on duty--and an oddly handsome young man (Gad Elmaleh) in a tuxedo, asleep on one of the lounge's couches.
She mistakes him for a rich playboy and when he awakes, the smitten employee neglects to correct her. They get drunk and share a night of passion in the hotel’s unoccupied royal suite.
A year later, Irène and Jacques return to the resort, with the same result, but this time Jacques learns of her infidelity and cuts her loose. Jean, by now head over heels for Irène, follows her to Nice where she almost bankrupts him with her demands, practically daring him to walk away. On the verge of being thrown out of his hotel for a bounced payment, Jean is only saved by the intervention of Madeleine (Marie-Christine Adam), a mature woman who takes him in as her toyboy.
Jean adapts to the gigolo business well and with Irène newly installed with her latest mark, they become equals, willing prostitutes, with Irène schooling Jean in the tricks of their trade (sulking, staring off into the distance and leaving sentences unfinished), for which he profits to the tune of a €30,000 watch and motor scooter. They become emotionally close yet are kept physically apart by their circumstances, as she remains addicted to the lifestyle, while he is simply addicted to her. Will they ever be free and together?
Starring:
Audrey Tautou, Gad Elmaleh, Marie-Christine Adam, Vernon Dobtcheff, Jacques Spiesser, Didier Brice, Annelise Hesme, Jean-Michel Lahmi, Blandine Pélissier
Directed By:
Pierre Salvadori
Release:
2008
Watch the Trailer:
