Japan also makes an appearance in L'Inju: la Bete dans l'Ombre, the latest work from French film-maker Barbet Schroeder.

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Other strong contenders include US director Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler, starring Mickey Rourke, and French film-maker Barbet Schroeder's thriller L'Inju: la Bete dans l'Ombre, or The Beast in the Shadows.

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Mr. Sarkozy "expressing the idea publicly with three weeks to go to the end of his first mandate isn't necessarily a bad idea as it puts the subject on the table without at the same time committing the French government or defining its position, " said BNP Paribas senior economist Dominique Barbet.

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