Main Cast: Virginie Ledoyen, Benoît Magimel, Dominique Valadie, Vera Briole, Virginie Emane
Release Year: 1995
Country: FR
Run Time: 90 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
As Valerie, 19-year-old Virginie Ledoyen is not just the titular Single Girl, but for all practical purposes, the entire movie. As the film opens, she meets her sullen, unemployed boyfriend Remi (Benoît Magimel) at a cafe, and reveals that she is pregnant with his child. She is not only unsure about whether she should keep the child, but whether Remi would make a decent father if she did. She is also starting a new job as room service in an expensive hotel and promises to return to the cafe in an hour and tell Remi her decision. The bulk of the film consists of a real-time study of that critical hour. Valerie takes trays from room to room, and the camera follows every stair step, every elevator trip. There are interactions with peculiar guests, but none of them are particularly important characters. The focus is always on Valerie. ~ John Voorhees, All Movie Guide
Review
A day in the life of a moody Parisian hotel worker is the topic for A Single Girl, which has the look and feel of being paced in real time. After Valerie (Virginie Ledoyen) reveals to her boyfriend that she is pregnant and wants to break up, the film becomes an exercise in voyeurism as she goes about her work duties under the gaze of the handheld camera. Ledoyen is a typical beauty, perfectly composed in every activity and revealing very little about Valerie's character. Presumably, she is pondering her decision and leaves the audience plenty of time to do the same. The emphasis on realism and lack of an intrusive plot structure suggest elements of both French New Wave and pseudo documentary. The camera follows her through every hallway, elevator ride, and staircase. Capturing the subtlety of everyday events in her life seems to be the point here, with no background music or gaps in time and space. However, other than her classic beauty-queen face, there is nothing terribly interesting about Valerie to warrant spending so much time with her. Nonetheless, A Single Girl is watchable for the dramatic subtext hidden beneath the ordinary work day. Interestingly, the tacked-on ending that picks up on her story a couple years later changes the tone completely. Also paced in real time, the conclusion offers a warm interaction between Valerie and her mother, which helps to round out her character a bit more fully. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Benoît Jacquot's A Single Girl (French: La Fille seule) follows a day in the life of a young Parisian woman named Valérie (played by Virginie Ledoyen) who begins a new job at a four star hotel the same day she reveals to her boyfriend that she is pregnant. The 90 minute film is shot in real time in the random style of the French New Wave.
This was the breakthrough role for the 19-year-old Virginie Ledoyen, best known in America for the Danny Boyle film The Beach, and earned her a César Award nomination.
