Special Treatment (Sans queue ni tête)

• Director: Jeanne Labrune
• Writer: Jani Thiltges
• Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Bouli Lanners, Richard Debuisne
• Language: French
• Theatrical Release Date: September 29, 2010
• On The Web IMDB Entryhomepage

Synopsis: Alice (Huppert) plays host to a wild diversity of well-heeled, middle-aged men, all of whom act out or play a series of roles, mostly childish and harmless. Living in an entirely separate world is Xavier (Bouli Lanners), a well-respected psychoanalyst – an uptight, angry, calculating man – who has his share of strange and weird patients. When Xavier’s marriage starts to unravel, a friend of his gives him Alice’s number. When Alice decides that maybe she has seen enough of the seamy underbelly of French masculinity, explaining “I am an empty armour – a numb body but with a brain that still works”, she decides to seek professional help. Xavier comes to her as a client, while she “auditions” a series of psychoanalysts. The rest of the film deals with Alice and Xavier as each of them attempts to work through their respective problems. [Synopsis courtesy of TIFF]