Listening is a lost art in our times: not even barbers, beauticians, or bartenders seem to have the knack or the patience anymore to attend to others in this way. People who begin going out regularly experience difficulty easing their way into intimate conversation since they have so little practice. For many couples, even in marriage, there just doesn't seem to be time to sit down and wile away the hours sharing secrets and discussing matters of the heart.

French writer and director Patrice Leconte is a master explorer of the ways in which strangers are thrown together and challenged emotionally. Think of the circus knife thrower who takes on a new woman as his target: the mysterious connection between the two makes Girl On The Bridge into such a fascinating movie. And in The Man on The Train, Leconte explores an unusual friendship that develops between a retired schoolteacher and a jaded thief. Whereas the older man yearns for some adventure and excitement in his predictable life, the thief who has spent far too many evenings adrift in faraway places desires the stability, comfort and tranquility of the teacher's existence. In both of these very fine French films, Leconte shows how important it is to be a good listener.

In the opening scene of Intimate Strangers, Anna (Sandrine Bonnaire) arrives for her first appointment with a psychiatrist, but knocks on the wrong door and meets William (Fabrice Luchini), a tax accountant who has inherited the business from his father. Before he figures out what has happened, this discombobulated young woman confesses that her four-year marriage is on the rocks, her husband is unemployed, and they have not have sex for six months. Before William can respond, this attractive stranger exits without leaving either her full name or phone number.

The tax accountant's latest girlfriend Jeanne (Anne Brochet) has left him for Luc (Laurant Gamelon), a bodybuilder who is very expressive about his enchantment with her. William is used to living alone, listening to music in his small apartment and sneaking peeks at lovers across the way in other apartments. He is definitely turned on by Anna's explicit talk about sex. On her second visit, she reveals more details about her marriage and although he blurts out, "I'm not a doctor." she misunderstands him and slips out the door.

When William tells Jeanne about the woman, she orders him to come clean about his true identity. On the sly, he has been chatting with Dr. Monnier (Michel Duchaussoy), the psychiatrist down the hall, about Anna and her confessions. Of course, this professional tells him that their continuing encounters are also about William and his problems. The tax accountant's meddling secretary (Helene Surgere), who also worked for his father, doesn't like her and finds it amazing that this strange woman has such an influence over her boss. Eventually, Anna's husband (Gilbert Melki) shows up in his office and has some strange requests to present.

Leconte calls this engaging story "a sentimental thriller" that is designed to reveal the changes that take place in the lives of the nervous Anna and the repressed William. It is a delight to watch how she begins to blossom and open up under his gaze and attentiveness to everything she says. Even more intriguing is the little transformations in his life thanks to her suggestions: getting rid of a depressing portrait in the office, dancing privately in his apartment to Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour," and re-scheduling other clients so he can prepare for her arrival. This drama, like Leconte's other two films, respects the essential mystery of human personality and the sparks that can fly when two people share an intimacy that feeds their souls and opens them up to new possibilities. Really listening is a spiritual practice, and it can change everything.