outrage for its virulent antisemitism; politicians and the media seized on the incident. President Jacques Chirac, condemned the "shameful act", while Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon advised French Jews to emigrate to Israel to avoid " the wildest antisemitism". Four days later Leblanc, who was not Jewish herself, admitted she had made the whole affair up. The revelation that the incident was a total invention created consternation and further outrage, particularly criticized was the media sensational exploration of the affair. The case inspired Jean-Marie Besset's 2006 play RER which in turn was the base for Téchiné's film script. Téchiné was interested in what he called the "human truth" behind the case. "I wanted to explore the genealogy of a lie, how it came to being. That's why I divided the film into two parts. The first is the circumstances, so you see the context under which the young woman was able to construct her lie. You see the difference elements that she takes from the context around her and puts into. Bleinstein, whose name she has taken. It's the name on the business card found in her bag, which she claims is the reason for being attacked. That was how I constructed the story." Téchiné cast in the leading role Belgian actress Emilie Dequenne, known internationally for her starring role in the Cannes Film Festival winner film Rosetta (1999). "I didn't want Jeanne to be depressive or a melancholic character," Téchiné explained. "I wanted her to be physical and athletic, which is why we came up with the idea of her rollerblading. It's significant that she falls in love with a top class athlete, which is based on the fact that the girl's real life lover was an athlete. And alongside her athleticism, Emilie has a day dreaming quality. In real life she is about 30, but in the film she looks much younger and more childlike." Reception The film garnered a favorable critical reaction, holding a fresh rating of 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics single out for praise the performances of Emilie Dequenne. Metacritic gave the film an average score of 68/100, indicating "generally favorable reviews". James Berardinelli from ReelViews called the film "a compelling piece of cinema". In his review for Los Angeles Times, Kevin Thomas wrote: " The movie seems likely to be about anti-Semitism, but that's more the occasion than the subject". Mick LaSalle from the