The opening shot of "Fidelio: Alice's Journey" has lead actress Ariane Labed skinny-dipping. Get used to it; it's far from the last time you'll see her naked form in this French film. Indeed, for a production with only one major female role as against several male roles, it is noticeable that there is much, much more female nudity than male.

Alice (Labed) is an engineer who, upon getting a job aboard the freighter 'Fidelio', is dismayed to discover its captain Gaël (Melvil Poupaud) is an old flame. This might make the view expect a bit of a relationship pot-boiler, but actually the "will-they-won't-they" business is dealt with pretty quickly. The film also resists the temptation to descend into tiresome "woman in a man's world who has to prove herself to the boorish men" territory; Alice is accepted into the Fidelio's crew with little comment about her gender and - a half-hearted attempt at molestation aside - it's of little direct importance to the storyline. Instead the film follows the day-to-day goings-on of Alice's life on board: there is a bit of business with a dead crewman's diary, but on the whole the film is an interesting character study of a flawed but likable central character.

As for the acting, Greek-born Labed brings a traditional French gamine quality to the central role, well-served by a wardrobe that allows Alice to be understatedly feminine as well as one of the boys. As Gaël, Poupaud is merely there: the role doesn't offer him much in which to sink his teeth, but I've never found him the most expressive of actors anyway. Anders Danielsen Lie, as Alice's artist boyfriend, could perhaps have made more of his role: instead he comes across as dull, boring and slightly bewildered, leading the viewer to understand just why Alice wants to spend most of her time at sea...