At its core, "The Last Mistress" is a love story, a twisted one, but still a story about two people's unending love for each other. In this tale, Ryno -a Casanova- (played by Fu'ad Ait Aattou) falls for Vellini -a sultry Spaniard- (Asia Argento). They share a tumultuous yet passionate life together full of affairs and heartbreak. When Ryno marries a French aristocrat named Hermangard (Roxane Mesquida), Vellini can't let him go. She is a shell of herself without him, willing to do irrational things to get him back, not unlike what he did to get her in the first place.
Catherine Breillat did a phenomenal job adapting and directing this film. It was visually beautiful, the lighting was picturesque, the costumes and set were impeccable, and the framing of the shots were like paintings. One shot in particular was wonderfully executed: Ryno and Vellini are at a dinner party, he is trying to seduce her, she is doing her best to resist him, there are men playing a game in the background. The camera is pointing at a mirror with part of the frame in the shot and each of the actors are perfectly blocked so you see each of them in the mirror's reflection like a painting.
Fu'ad Ait Aattou used his expressive, and not so bad to look at, eyes very well in his portrayal of Ryno. Asia argento stepped up and gave an almost raw performance as Vellini, some of her scenes were truly heartbreaking. I enjoyed the little character traits like Vellini smoking cigars rather than cigarettes.
On a whole, "The Last Mistress" suffered a little from a few side characters that I found boring and tedious, and the pacing at times felt a little slow, but given the story, it was acceptable. I really enjoyed seeing a "period" love story that didn't bore me to tears.
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