Oscar winning actress Marion Cotillard appeared nude multiple times in the sexually explicit 2002 French film Une affaire privée. She is seen in a sexy dance with other women, in several sex scenes (some of which are violent: warning there was a scene that was mildly disturbing), nude around the house, putting on lotion, you get the point. In fact there are almost 5 minutes of nude scenes in the clip below. It’s not quite soft porn, but it’s pretty close, and the gorgeous actress is not afraid of taking it off or of appearing without makeup on screen. Cotillard is 32 although she looks much younger, and was 27 when this film came out. She won the Oscar on Sunday for best actress for her portrayal of tragic French singer Édith Piaf in La Vie En Rose.

According to Fandago, the film is about a seedy private detective investigating the disappearance of a student. Cotillard seems to play the detective’s lover. A commentor on IMDB noted that the plot is pretty complicated and hard to follow. If you know French and/or have seen this film and can provide more insight, please comment.

As someone who now lives in Europe, I can say that nudity is generally not considered titillating and that Cotillard is most likely not ashamed of her work in this film. She shouldn’t be, either. Hopefully her Oscar win will propel her to new levels of international success.

This clip is not for under-18 and not for work.

Update: Many of our French readers say this is a well known film featuring top actors and that these type of scenes are in almost every French film:

I can say.. that’s absolutely normal in French films, since decades. In France, no one is fazed by such appearances, I even get the feeling it doesn’t feel like a real movie if someone doesn’t run around naked, do a sex scene, a rape scene, a lotion scene or all of the above. I know, ’cause I’m half French.

[Comment by Anna]

And reader Bellatrix confirms that this is a top film, and offers a plot summary. Cotillard plays the best friend of the woman who is missing:

I am SURE this is not something Cotillard will now be ashamed of. Nudity is a part of art in Europe, especially in French movies.

This was not some cheap movie that now needs to be hidden. Its cast is a rather important one (Thierry Lhermitte, Samuel Le Bihan, Frédéric Diefenthal, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Clovis Cornillac : big French names and very well known actors)

The movie deals with the story of Rachel’s disappearing. Her mother hires a private investigator, François Manéri, to find out what has happened to her.

He stumbles upon a very complex case. A very private business (affaire, in French, has several meanings : business deal/real life scenario in a very general sense/intimate relationship)… Which is echoed throughout the title.

François (the guy played by the very, very famous Thierry Lhermitte in the first scene of this video) will thus meet all those close to Rachel to try to find a trace of her.

There is her best friend played by Cotillard (Clarisse in the movie), Rachel’s ex-boyfriend, her stepfather and her neighbours. They all seem to be linked together (and to Rachel) in very odd and complicated ways. The more he investigates, the stranger the story becomes.

In the end, one starts to wonder who Rachel really was… I won’t spoil it though!

[Comment by Bellatrix]