Strange Affair is a 1981 French film directed by Pierre Granier-Deferre

Pierre Granier-Deferre

Pierre Granier-Deferre was a French film director. His 1971 film Le Chat won the Best Actor and Best Actress awards at the 21st Berlin International Film Festival....

, and starring Michel Piccoli, Gérard Lanvin

Gérard Lanvin

Gérard Lanvin 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 actor Coluche. He received the Prix Jean Gabin in 1982 for his role in Une étrange affaire...

 and Nathalie Baye

Nathalie Baye

Nathalie Marie Andrée Baye is a French film, television, and stage actress. After having dance and dramatic education, Baye began acting in 1970. She has appeared in more than 70 films. She won four César Awards for Sauve qui peut , Une étrange affaire , La Balance , and Le Petit Lieutenant...

.

Plot

Louis Coline (Gérard Lanvin) is an executive assistant in a declining Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 department store. While he is not ambitious and has little to do, he is content with his wife Nina (Nathalie Baye), visits to his mother and grandmother and nights out with his friends playing poker. However, the manipulative Bertrand Malair (Michel Piccoli) becomes the store's new manager, and arrives to shake up the company. Louis fears for his job, but Bertrand draws him into his inner circle of confidants. Bertrand starts to control Louis' life, while Louis is afraid of losing his privileged position. To maintain it Louis works overtime, accepts Bertrand's invitations to nightclubs and dinners with an androgynous woman, and places his house at Bertrand's disposal. Nina sees through her husband's behaviour and objects, but Louis cannot refuse Bertrand's demands, and she is unable to make him see how much his personality has changed. Desperate, she leaves her husband, which only draws him further under Bertrand's control. Bertrand soon disappears as mysteriously as he came, and Louis finds himself unable to revert to his previous self.

Cast

• Michel Piccoli - Bertrand Malair
• Gérard Lanvin
  Gérard Lanvin
  Gérard Lanvin 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 actor Coluche. He received the Prix Jean Gabin in 1982 for his role in Une étrange affaire...
  
   - Louis Coline
• Nathalie Baye
  Nathalie Baye
  Nathalie Marie Andrée Baye is a French film, television, and stage actress. After having dance and dramatic education, Baye began acting in 1970. She has appeared in more than 70 films. She won four César Awards for Sauve qui peut , Une étrange affaire , La Balance , and Le Petit Lieutenant...
  
   - Nina Coline
• Jean-Pierre Kalfon
  Jean-Pierre Kalfon
  Jean-Pierre Kalfon is a French film and television actor.-Selected filmography:* The Rabbi's Cat * Parc * The Dreamers * Lulu * La Repetition...
  
   - François Lingre
• Jean-François Balmer
  Jean-François Balmer
  Jean-François Balmer is a Swiss actor. He has worked extensively in French cinema, television and stage productions since the early 1970s.-Selected filmography:* Little Marcel * La Menace...
  
   - Paul Belais
• Pierre Michaël - Gérard Doutre
• Madeleine Cheminat - Yvette, la grand-mère de Louis
• Victor Garrivier - Le père de Nina
• Dominique Blanchar - La mère de Louis
• André Chaumeau
• Jacques Boudet
  Jacques Boudet
  Jacques Boudet is a French stage and screen actor. He had great success in the 1980s with his appearance in Exercises in Style, and is featured in the film The Names of Love ....
  
   - M. Blain, le chef du personnel
• Ariane Lartéguy - Salomé
• Nicolas Vogel - René
• Dominique Zardi
  Dominique Zardi
  Dominique Zardi was a French actor. He played in more than 600 films-Selected filmography:- External links :* *...
  
   - Gruault, chef des contentieux

Awards

The film won the Louis Delluc Prize

Louis Delluc Prize

Le Prix Louis-Delluc is a French film award.For every year It has been awarded since its creation in 1937 , it has been bestowed on the second Thursday of December. The jury is composed of 20 members, made up of a group of film critics and personalities who are cultural significance. Gilles Jacob...

 and the César Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role

César Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role

List of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Supporting Actress .-Winners:Adapted from the article , from Wikinfo, licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License....

, and it received César nominations for best actor, best supporting actor, best director and best writing. Michel Piccoli won the Silver Bear for Best Actor

Silver Bear for Best Actor

The Silver Bear for Best Actor is the Berlin International Film Festival's award for achievement in performance by an actor.- Awards :- External links :*...

 at the 32nd Berlin International Film Festival

32nd Berlin International Film Festival

The 32nd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 12 to February 23, 1982.-Jury:* Joan Fontaine * Vladimir Baskakov* Brigitte Fossey* Joe Hembus* László Lugossy* Gian Luigi Rondi* Helma Sanders-Brahms...

.