Vénus et Fleur

Follows the enjoyable French formula of a group of young people in a holiday villa on the coast, immortalised in such works as Éric Rohmer's "La collectioneuse" and "Pauline à la plage", Christopher Frank's "L'année des méduses," or Jacques Deray's "La piscine", to name just a handful. In sun-drenched settings, we can enjoy games of love and chance between bronzed torsos and skimpy bikinis.

This work keeps to the classic format, with just four characters to fall in and out of love with each other. The interesting difference, since human nature hasn't changed at all, is that the 21st century characters are given names from medieval tales.

Vénus is the goddess of profane love, beautiful in face and form, who is irresistible to any straight man. Fleur, with scraped-back hair and amazingly frumpy clothes (were they actually bought, or specially made?), is the unopened flower who needs the kiss of the fore-ordained prince to blossom into womanhood. Dieu is the king of the gods, with winning ways that will prevail against almost any earthly woman. While Bonheur, the honest backpacker, will bring happiness to the woman who is right for him.

A simple structure, with subtle elaborations and oodles of Gallic charm.