No one could deny that Gérard Depardieu is a great French star. But his recent films have seemed almost to refute that fact. Not Xavier Giannoli's, however.

Here he is cast as an ageing crooner of sentimental ballads, fearing the onset of karaoke as he pursues his increasingly weary way as a minor celebrity on the dance hall circuit. He is none too slim, streaks his hair and hardly glories in the fact that, in Clermont-Ferrand at any rate, he is still signing plenty of autographs.

It is a part he encompasses superbly, suggesting a man not particularly content with his lot but just about able to keep on going despite a croaking throat. What causes him to reflect on his life is his meeting with Cécile De France's pretty estate agent whom he beds for a night and then finds resistant to his fading charms. The more she quietly rejects anything more than friendship, the more he wants her.

As a singer Depardieu is exactly right. Not too good but authentically able to wow the middle-aged and elderly with standard ballads. He is also wonderful at showing us how the much younger woman causes him to reflect that it is probably too late for any hopes of either stardom or emotional satisfaction.

Giannoli's film is as bitter as it is sweet and paints the scene with masterly precision, even if the usual comforting ending is at odds with what has gone before.

But it is Depardieu's day, with De France backing him up very well. When the time comes for him to leave the stage, this will be accounted one of his foremost triumphs.