2005 - Directed by Diane Bertrand
 Starring Olga Kurylenko, Marc Barbé, Edith Scob and Stipe Erceg

 Before we get too far into this slow, methodical head scratcher of a movie, in the interest of full disclosure, I think I should make at least one thing perfectly clear: I would’ve never been aware of this movie had it not starred Olga Kurylenko, the Bond Girl from Quantum Of Solace , who is supercute and if this movie is any indication, worth watching in virtually anything.  Okay, all that ugly sexism and honesty out of the way, let’s see what’s up with this little movie, shall we?

 Iris (Kurylenko) is a factory worker when we first met her, a line worker in a plant bottling lemonade.  She cuts off the tip of her left ring finger when a bottle shatters, for which the presumably fire her, as we next see her wandering around the docks at the nearby port, but she’s shooed away by the large burly sailors who have no work for a waifish young girl.  She finds lodging in a local hotel after the owner basically takes pity on her and offers to let her sub-let the 2^nd bed in an already occupied room, as the sailor who lives there won’t see her often because he works nights.

 Iris takes the ferry to the mainland area (I couldn’t tell you where this is meant to take place if you held a gun too my head, I honestly didn’t know Iris’ name until someone FINALLY said it around the 38 minute mark of the film!) and takes a path that happens to lead her near a large rambling building, which has a help wanted sign in the window.

 She meets a strange man who is never identified by name (simply called L'homme du laboratoire in the IMDB credits) who I thought of as a Doctor (Barbé), what with his white lab coat and all.  He explains that his laboratory ‘prepares specimens’, preserving things for people, though he’s maddeningly vague about what this actually entails.

 Iris settles into the job, which we learn is rather abstract as far as definitions go, she helps take in items to be preserved and stored for a few different people, including mushrooms found growing on the rubble of a young girls’ burned family home and the sheet music for a tune composed by someone’s ex-lover.  These items are preserved, left behind as if to allow for closure once the person knows that something has been done with that part of their past, locking it safely away where it can be revisited safely if they so desire. The Dr.’s large building is filled with shelves upon shelves full of these preserved items, stored away in dusty rooms throughout the building.

 As Iris settles in, so does the heat and eventually the Dr. (as I’ll insist on calling him) suggests that they retreat to the basement area, where there is a large empty bath area, complete with a large dry pool and empty fountains.  The Dr. comments on her plain brown shoes, offering her a more elegant pair of burgundy shoes that he reverently places on her feet, asking that she wear them ‘all the time’, which is clue number 28 or so that this guy is a big giant weirdo, but with the local job market being what it is, she agrees without question.

 The life she leads apart from her unseen roommate is hinted at, as we see her casually investigate the book and passport left on the nightstand between their beds, we also see the two of them smile at one another from afar as she passes on the ferry, their interplay is intriguing as they live within one another’s lives, but are not a part of that life.

 When Iris arrives at work during a downpour, the good Dr. makes her some tea so she won’t catch cold, then undresses her in the pool area downstairs so that one of the tenants can dry her clothes for her.  Tenants, you ask? Yes, evidently the building was a boarding house at one time, and the Dr. has let a few tenants hang on as he turned the rest of the place into his wacky ‘specimen’ museum.  I can only assume the local real estate market must be even shittier than the job market, because I’d move, if I were them.

 There are more hints that something strange is afoot as numerous people take note of her new footwear, leading one to wonder exactly what significance the shoes carry, and Costa (Erceg), her unknown roommate selects a dress from her closet and places it near the door, hinting at a possible growing attraction as he lays back on his bed and admires her clothing.

 Iris and the Dr. finally consummate their oddball attraction one day while work is slow due to more inclement weather, fully reminding me of The Secretary in the roles of controlling boss and submissive assistant, though this guy blows Spader out of the water as far as weirdness goes.

 The movie is very open-ended and will leave you with lots of tidbits to mull over, the implications of certain photographs that appear to show the Dr. looking the same age, even though the picture is obviously rather ancient, the significance of the actual preservation work and the objects left behind; there’s just a lot to take in and process when watching this film, as slow moving as it is.

 I’d say this is worth a watch, but don’t expect a ton of action or dramatic situations.  The film moves along a little bit like a dream, evoking certain emotions or feelings with some strikingly shot images and methodical pacing.

 Give it a rental if that’s your bag.

 5/10