(Diane Bertrand, France/Germany, 2005) 100min

Based on a novel by Japanese writer Yogo Ogawa, outré French filmmaker Bertrand’s film features Ukrainian model turned actress Olga Kurylenko as Iris, a young woman who finds her life intertwined with that of her amorous boss (Marc Barbe) at the laboratory where she works, and the sailor (Stipe Erceg) with whom she shares a room. Relocating Ogawa’s opaque prose into a European dreamworld reminiscent of those created by Angela Carter, Bertrand sends Iris off on a series of Tinto Brass-style photo opportunities, swinging gaily back and forward on the dockside cranes, or reclining naked on the tiled floor of a disused room in the laboratory. But Bertrand is too sensitive to her heroine’s finer feelings to attract accusations of exploitation: The Ring Finger plays as a feminine variation of the retro-obscure world of Jeunet and Caro (Delicatessen).

The Ring Finger is a dense symbolic drama which doesn’t have much to do with any kind of reality, but it’s also an aural and visual delight well worth seeking out. Imagine Amelie mixed with The Red Shoe Diaries and you’ll get the drift of this bewitching slice of Euro chic-lit. Borocwyck-a-go-go. (Stuart Gray)

Filmhouse, 623 8030, 25 Aug, 7.15pm & 26 Aug, 2.50pm, £7.95 (£5.20).