L'Idole (The Idol)

 L'Idole (The Idol)... A young Australian actress, Sarah, plying her art with limited success in France, and an old Chinese man, Mr. Zao (whom James Hong depicts), who helps her with kindness, especially by cooking such delicious meals for her that her depression over her professional frustrations lessens somewhat, are the two main characters in this quiet movie, along with her seductively handsome illicit lover, Phillippe. There is more display of exquisite sensibility than of outright action, which may cause this film to bore many viewers, but which entrances those who attune to its aesthetic to follow the fate of these characters with some intensity of interest in them.

Sarah lets her envy, over the actress playing the role for which she is an understudy, overwhelm her very interest in life itself. Being so young and exceedingly beautiful, as Leelee Sobieski portrays Sarah, she is, of course, foolish to be so impatient to succeed. She even sets a hex upon her actress rival which leads, as Sarah perceives things, to a terrible result.