I'm pretty sure there are just as many strippers in France as in America, but they don't make nearly as many movies about them (I think it might be the third biggest profession for women in Hollywood movies after female cop and female lawyer). At least some of this might be the less judgmental and more matter-of-fact way the French treat sex in general. Stripping is just another profession and no big deal (and it's part of the job of most French actresses anyway).
American stripper movies usually fall into two categories. There's the "feminist sturm-und-drang" movies where a sympathetic woman is forced to work as a stripper which inevitably--in itself--brings about a personal crisis, a lot of feminist soul-searching and drama until she eventually gives it up after becoming older and wiser. These films are often pretty light on the stripping so as not to be "exploitative". (Some are even made-for-TV movies). The second type are sexier but equally annoying. They're much more exploitative and exclusively aimed at males. They show some sexy young thing going through some kind of half-assed "personal liberation" as she learns to shed her clothes and her inhibitions and she eventually meets a great, respectful guy (which strip clubs are full of, of course)and lives happily ever after. Naturally, the emphasis here is on the STRIPPING and lap-dancing, and the actress involved (Elizabeth Berkely, for example) generally couldn't act her way out of a crisp paper sack.
This French movie is not great, but it's a pretty happy medium between these two. The protagonist's (Anne Azoulay) descent into stripper-dom is portrayed very matter-of-factly. She does it to provide for her senile grandmother and it's really just part of the mosaic of her life that--like with most strippers--is not necessarily going to lead to drugs and prostitution (although she does at one point find herself at a paid orgy). Mostly it just puts more stress on her as she also starts attending college and has a relationship with a man. The typical American response to this movie would be that it's boring and nothing really happens.True perhaps. But that's also realistic and refreshing in a way. There is nothing boring about Anne Azoulay's frequently nude body, but she is also a far better actress than most American actresses that play these kind of roles. She certainly has a more believable character.
The ending is very downbeat without a whole lot resolution, but that is realistic too. This is a very ADULT movie, not because the content is especially racy (aside from one LONG male-on-female oral sex scene), but because it is actually takes a mature and realistic look at a young woman who is going through some difficult times without offering any easy resolution.
