What do you know about Kristin Scott Thomas? Exactly. She’s beautiful and French (except she isn’t, but you know) and she plays lots of tragic heroines and frigid upper-class women and generally people who look down their nose at the world until they suddenly have all the sex. If that’s it, you need this Cheat Sheet like KST needs a genteel chignon (clue: a lot)

This weekend sees the nationwide release of Potiche, a glorious French farce from the totally irrepressible François Ozon which stars legendary screen couple Catherine Deneuve (swoon) and Gérard Depardieu (double swoon). We caught up with M Ozon at London’s Institut Français for a cheeky little tête à tête…

Potiche is the French word for a vase or ornament of superficial beauty and little real value. Idiomatically, it refers to a trophy wife – a pretty, inoffensive girl who’ll sit on her shelf and not cause any trouble. Mischievous satirical prankster François Ozon directs the magnificent Catherine Deneuve in a hilarious and savvy tale of one trophy wife who simply won’t stay in the cabinet.