Nue Comme Un Verre

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Nue Comme Un Verre
Despite having fan service, the full summary and writing is an empty glass that doesn't even try to take advantage of its premise.
Genre: Comedy Directed by: Corto Fajal Written by: Michel Granvale Starring: Ludmila Ruoso Chloé Berthier Runtime: 20 minutes Country: France Language: French

Nue Comme Un Verre (English: Naked as a Glass) is a 2003 French short film directed by Corto Fajal. It stars Ludmila Ruoso and Chloé Berthier as the main characters.

Plot

For an unknown magical reason, Marie's clothes suddenly disappear when a glass is spilled over, and her clothes abruptly return when the mess is cleaned. She is nervous about the party in her place, since there will be a lot of people and there will be lots of drinking (and everyone's using glasses).

Spilled Qualities

1. The concept of the short film where Marie's clothes disappear from a spilled glass isn't bad in itself as it can set up for something interesting, but the execution is somewhat lazy as it feels underdeveloped.
   • The first part takes place in a café and the moment a glass is spilled while Marie's in the bathroom, her clothes abruptly disappear and she covers her nudity, shocked that something like this suddenly happened; this scene makes it clear that this is the first time this magical thing has happened, but the problem is that the short never explains why this happens as there is no explanation prior, during, or after the events of the short. It was just introduced abruptly with absolutely no reason. Even if the short isn't exactly heavy on story, the lore and overall universe of it is very much like the real world, so it makes the gimmick feel even more poorly-introduced.
2. None of the characters in the short film are interesting or likable.
   • Marie (Ludmila Ruoso) doesn't really have any truly sympathetic traits outside of her worries about being seen naked by a lot of people. Above all, she is also kind of a Mary-Sue (Read SQ#3) despite the running gag in the short, as she eventually tries getting away from her problem easily in a lame, uninteresting, and weak way.
   • Marie Madeleine (Chloé Berthier) is just a weak comic relief who is just mischievous (the sensual kind) and that's all to her character.
   • The other characters are just nothing, not even Thomas (though he isn't exactly unlikable).
   • One of the characters is an old man equipped with a lot of gadgets and wears them on tentacle like things on his back (and the editing in his scenes included cartoon sound effects), which feels out-of-place and unnecessary.
3. The theme song is odd and unbefitting for the short's premise, as it's just a woman singing in a dramatic and corny way, something too silly for it to work with the short.
4. The plot is pretty dull: after the opening scene and the part where Marie and her friend discuss about the former's embarrassing problem that was also magical, with nothing much happening in the runtime, as it's just Marie worrying about glasses being spilt during the party, eventually getting seen nude by a few people in the process while trying to explain her situation (and of course, no one believes her but her best friend). In the end, Marie returns to the party and confidently spills a drink to try making everyone around her naked before laughing at everyone, as a way to satisfy herself and to relieve her potential embarrassment. This is not only a weird way to end the short film, but it also comes off as mean-spirited as no one deserved to be embarrassed like that.
   • Marie also did this as a petty way to get back at Thomas for thinking she's crazy (because he doesn't the magical thing about her clothes disappearing, especially since he hasn't seen it), and the fact that she makes Thomas naked while laughing at him, it also makes Marie come off as a mean-spirited female protagonist who confidently tries making the opposite gender go through her embarrassment (including innuendo or nudity) even it's too far and undeserving for him.
5. After Marie makes everyone naked, the short just ends there, and it feels like a blatant, empty cliffhanger that just makes no sense and it doesn't really conclude the short film in an effective way, nor do we get to see more of the characters after experiencing the gimmick of the short; the ending feels underdeveloped and it leaves big, blatant questions unanswered.
   • What's questionable is that after Marie spilled the drink, did it just make everyone in the house naked, or even more people? That was unclear, which is another thing about the gimmick being underdeveloped.

Qualities That Aren't Spilled

1. All the actors and actresses did well on their roles.
2. Pretty decent cinematography
3. Despite the theme song being weird, the background music is somewhat enjoyable.
4. The nude scenes are admittedly well directed and creative by themselves, despite the weak plot and the fact that the short's gimmick is underdeveloped.
   • The first part that shows Marie's frontal and rear nudity through a mirror is creative, and the part where an old man sees her butt through the mirror while Marie waves at him (unaware that the reflection of her butt can be seen) is funny.
   • The part where Marie's clothes disappear in front of the old man with a lot of gadgets (in which the mirror he brought makes Marie see her naked reflection, causing her to quickly close the door embarrassed) is funny as well, and the old man's reaction is priceless.
     • There is also a funny shot where she walks to her sofa while covering her privates, with a slightly bent image of her butt visible through a glass.
   • The part where Marie abruptly gets naked in front of Thomas before walking to him (in which a glimpse of her butt cleavage can be seen through a mirror's reflection before an object obscures it) is a creative way of barely censoring nudity while still letting viewers catch a glimpse of everything.
   • The ending where everyone in the house is naked is admittedly funny by itself, even if the writing isn't good.

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