Belles de Jour

Two of France's fastest-rising stars make a mark in the U.S.

I've had some bad luck, that's all, "

French actress Juliette Binoche(right), says in "Mara, " a drama based on Henry Miller's "Berthe," now airing on HBO Showcase's Women & Men.

That pathos characterizes her roles, from Tereza, suffering Tomas's infidelities in The Unbearable Lightness of Being, to this, a Polish prostitute in Paris who has a poignant dalliance with an American writer. Binoche projects a waifish quality of having been through a lot but still being easily open to hurt. "For me," she admits, "there's always passion in any role. "

MICHAEL MUSTO

The daughter of a French coal miner is singing in smoky cabarets at thirteen. A major film star hears her at eighteen and offers to produce her first record. The poor little songbird becomes the top female vocalist in France, with millions of adoring fans and a glamorous life. But this is the story of Patricia Kaas(left), and while the twenty-four-year-old has an uncanny resemblance in style and history to Edith Piaf, she is definitely her own woman. "There is only one Piaf, and I want to be myself, " insists Kaas, who has just released her first album in the U.S., Scene de Vie. And while Piaf led an explosive private life, the worst vice that Kaas can claim is shopping.

Which means she'll probably have no regrets.

KIKI MASON