The Shade is Raphael Nadjari

Raphael Nadjari

Raphaël Nadjari is a French born writer and director for film and television.In 1993, Nadjari started working for French television as a writer and director...

's debut feature. This is a modern adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's A Gentle Creature

A Gentle Creature

"A Gentle Creature" , sometimes also translated as "The Meek One", is a short story written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky in 1876. The piece comes with the subtitle of "A Fantastic Story", and it chronicles the relationship between a pawnbroker and a girl that frequents his shop. The story was inspired by...

, and takes place in contemporary New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

.

Plot

The film tells the story of a Jewish middle aged pawnbroker who meets a mysterious woman who will become his wife without their truly knowing each other. The film begins with Simon, alone in his apartment with the corpse of his wife, Anna, who has just committed suicide. In his grief, he remembers the first time he met her, a year ago when she walked into his pawnbroker's shop in Spanish Harlem. Mysterious Anna, who seems to come from nowhere, impresses solitary Simon with her beauty, and he proposes to her on their first night out. They then enter into a passionate relationship that will lead her to death.

Awards and nominations

• 1999 Cannes Film Festival
  1999 Cannes Film Festival
  The 52nd Cannes Film Festival was held on May 12-23, 1999. The Palme d'Or went to the French-Belgian film Rosetta by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.-Jury:* David Cronenberg * André Téchiné * Barbara Hendricks...
  
   - Official Selection, Un Certain Regard
  Un Certain Regard
  Un Certain Regard is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection. It is run at the Salle Debussy, parallel to the competition for the Palme d'Or.This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob...
  
  
• Bergamo Film Festival (1999) - Audience Award

External links

• Review in the New York Times