''My Man'' (french: Mon Homme) is a 1996 French

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

written and directed by Bertrand Blier. It was entered into the

46th Berlin International Film Festival The 46th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 15 to 26 February 1996. The Golden Bear was awarded to British-American film ''Sense and Sensibility'' directed by Ang Lee. The retrospective dedicated to American film director, p ...

where

Anouk Grinberg Anouk Grinberg (born 20 March 1963) is a French actress. She is the daughter of Michel Vinaver, born Michel Grinberg, a French writer and dramatist, and the great-granddaughter of the pre-1917 Russian politician Maxim Vinaver. She has appeared ...

won the

Silver Bear for Best Actress The Silver Bear for Best Actress (german: Silberner Bär/Beste Darstellerin) was an award presented at the Berlin International Film Festival from 1956 to 2020. It was given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance and was chos ...

Plot

Marie is a prostitute who enjoys her job: she likes the independence, she likes the money, and she likes pleasing men. One cold night she sees a homeless man asleep at the foot of the stairs and, struck by his plight, asks him up to her apartment. His name is Jeannot and, after she has given him food and drink, she offers herself. Realising that she has fallen in love with him, and wanting to keep him, she offers him the job of being her pimp. Jeannot likes the independence, the money, and the sex with Marie, but is lonely mooching around town while she is entertaining clients in the apartment. Meeting a manicurist called Sanguine, he decides to make her his next prostitute. Her first client happens to be a police inspector investigating vice rings and Jeannot ends up in jail. Marie, devastated at losing Jeannot and at his treachery, is also sorry over Sanguine's plight. She decides to give up prostitution and to raise a family with a good man. Meeting Jean-François in a bar, she decides that he will be the father and invites Sanguine to join the two of them. When Jeannot is released he meets Bérengère, who is looking for a man. Since neither Marie nor Sanguine ever visited or wrote to him, he moves into her house. Jean-François, who has given Marie two babies and has another on the way with Sanguine, keeps getting fired and is now unemployable, being on the black list. With the electricity cut off and Sanguine due to deliver at any moment, Marie decides to go back to prostitution. But the men do not seem interested in her any more and the prices they offer are derisory. Coming home despondent, she finds a mute Jeannot at the table. While Jean-François prepares to rush Sanguine to the maternity hospital, Jeannot mutters his apologies to them all.

Cast

- Marie Abarth *

Gérard Lanvin Gérard Lanvin (; born 21 June 1950) is a César Award-winning French actor. He quit his studies when he was 17 to become an actor. He took on a role in '' Vous n'aurez pas l'Alsace et la Lorraine'' in 1977 on an offer from the actor Coluche. H ...

- Jeannot * Valeria Bruni Tedeschi - Sanguine * Olivier Martinez - Jean-François *

Dominique Valadié Dominique Valadié (born 1952) is a French actress. She studied acting at the Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an ...

- Gilberte * Jacques François - 2nd Client *

Michel Galabru Michel Louis Edmond Galabru (27 October 19224 January 2016) was a French actor. Career Galabru appeared in more than 250 films and worked with directors such as Bertrand Blier, Costa-Gavras, Luc Besson (for ''Subway''), and Jean-Luc Godard. ...

- 3rd Client: Armoire * Robert Hirsch - M. Hervé *

Bernard Le Coq Bernard Le Coq (born 25 September 1950) is a French actor. He has appeared in more than one hundred and fifty films since 1967. His first big role Bernard Le Coq has played as Annie Girardot's son and Claude Jade's brother in the family dra ...

- Inspector Marvier * Bernard Fresson - Personnel Director *

Jacques Gamblin Jacques Gamblin is a French actor. Life and career Jacques Gamblin is a French actor. He studied at the Centre dramatique de Caen (Caen Dramatic Arts Centre). Originally, Jacques Gamblin was not destined to act. As a professional technician ...

- 4th Client *

Jean-Pierre Darroussin Jean-Pierre Darroussin (born 4 December 1953) is a French actor and filmmaker. He was born in Courbevoie, France. Theater Filmography Actor *1992: '' Riens du tout'' (directed by Cédric Klapisch starring Fabrice Luchini, Daniel Berlioux) ...

- Gilbert's Client *

Ginette Garcin Ginette Garcin (4 January 1928 – 10 June 2010) was a French actress of stage, film and television. Biography She lived in Audresselles, Pas-de-Calais. Ginette Garcin made her musical debut with Jacques Hélian and his orchestra in 1946. She ...

- Woman In Shawl * Dominique Lollia - Mélissa *

Frédéric Pierrot Frédéric Pierrot (born 17 September 1960) is a French actor. He has appeared in more than 120 films and television shows since 1986. He starred in the film '' Tell Me I'm Dreaming'', which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the ...

- The Cop * Aurore Clément - Woman of the World * Jean-Pierre Léaud - M. Claude * Jean-Philippe Écoffey

Accolades

References

External links

* 1996 films 1996 drama films French drama films 1990s French-language films Films directed by Bertrand Blier Films about prostitution in France 1990s French films {{1990s-France-film-stub