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| | Label: Fejui Media Corporation
Salesrank: 151668
Released: August 12, 2003 |
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| Used Price: $35.75 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Asian NTSC/All Code DVD release of 1999 French drama directed by Patrice Leconte & starring Daniel Auteuil & Vanessa Paradis. Black & white. English subtitles. 92 minutes. Fejui.
The Girl on the Bridge Reviews:
Captivating, romantic and utterly indulgent... 
2006-05-28 - "The Girl on the Bridge" ("La Fille Sur Le Pont") is a rare gem of a film which can be a romantic comedy, a tragedy and a suspense film all rolled into one. With powerhouse performances from Daniel Auteuil and Vanessa Paradis, this film will have you laughing and squirming in your seat at the same time. I defy anyone to actually stop the film and make a cup of coffee. I couldn't take my eyes off it.
Paradis is a lonely, depressed 21 year old woman at the end of her rope. The opening scene is pure quality as her character, Adele, explains her frustration at the mercy of the love / sex dichotomy; her composure slowly crumbling along the way. She goes to a bridge in Paris to end it all and meets Gabor (Auteuil), a burnt out 40+ year-old circus knife thrower. Gabor explains that he stands on bridges looking for desperate women to partner him in his act. Rather than sacrificing his dignity in order to disuade her from suicide, Gabor resorts to reverse psychology and both of them wind up in the river. In the hands of an older man, Adele learns a level of self control she never had and Gabor gets the co-worker he has always wanted and needed. As a partnership, they are complete but it will depend on Adele's ability to deny herself the thing which has brought her undone for so long. Denying her fear in the act is easier.
The first time they appear in public, Gabor goes all-out to impress his audience, gambling on the symbiosis of their relationship with a maximum risk performance. The scene is truly gut wrenching and frightening; an exploration of the voyeurism in humans which will attract us to such an act. The brutality of the thump as the knife hits the backboard has them squirming in their seats and Adele and Gabor discover something new about themselves. They communicate even when they are apart. They can gamble together even when they are not together and luck is on their side. In the stage lights they are brilliant.
The scene at the rail yard in Italy examines their relationship in an off-stage performance which takes them to new heights as they both experience the erotic pleasure of danger and completeness to the haunting Marianne Faithfull song "Who Will take My Dreams Away?". Soon, however, Adele's period of sexual denial comes to an end and she leaves Gabor, resulting in their return to their previous luckless existences. The ending, for me, was a little predictable but it didn't detract from a film which is a guilty pleasure to watch.
Beautifully shot in black and white and featuring a lot of hand-held shots and snappy editing, the transfer has a lustrous quality to it and I simply could not imagine it in colour. The lighting is superb and renders a rich grey scale. The script is wonderful with a healthy helping of black humour and romantic tension. It has been said that the most romantic monent is the last breath before the first kiss. In this film that last breath goes for almost the entire film. Patrice Leconte is the only director I can think of who could have done this film justice and he delivers in a big way.
Top marks at all levels.
Great movie--No music CD?
2006-02-11 - This is a wonderful movie. However, there is no apparent music CD in the market. How often does this occur: great movie and no cd. Does anyone have information regarding the music for this movie? Thanks.
LOVE STORY WITH A CUTTING TWIST
2006-01-21 - Vanessa Paradis (Adelle) plays a sad 22 year old woman whose life has been strewn with failures and disappointments. In a single take lasting ten minutes, Paradis transforms before our eyes from an indifferent minx into a tearful plaintiff. That's terrific acting!
Adelle grew up believing sex is what life is all about, and so she never learned how to say "no" to any man or boy. Daniel Auteuil (Gabor) is an over 40 year old, tall, dark, contemplative knife throwing artiste who never smiles and has haunting eyes. After Adelle opens the film with a wryly amusing monologue on the failure of her life, an early scene places her perched in the middle of a bridge over the River Seine on a dark, wintry night. Just as she is about to jump, Gabor interferes with her to ask that she be his target for knife throwing. "You're too younjg to throw your life away!" She has given up on life, yet she may be perfect for his act -- he proposes.
The black and white format lends drama to this often very funny movie. She jumps, and he goes after her -- they wind up in the icy water and in a hospital. She is "seduced" by Gabor (not sexualy but by his mysterious manner) into his act which becomes increasingly dangerous and sensual. Adelle continues to be distracted by "trying on, like new clothing" one young man after another while the duo travel from gig to gig in the south of France and Italy. Yet something profound develops between Adelle and Gabor and in one, impromptu knife throwing scene at a rural railway station it is so well acted and filmed that we are presented with an erotic pas de deux between the couple that transcends pedestrian sex. Gabor's intensity and knife throwing gives her an orgasm.
This film is a French fanatasy romance which is funny and erotic in a Hitchkokian way (e.g., Eva Marie Saint and Cary Grant train scenes in "North by Northwest"). What we don't see has a bigger impact on us than what is so skillfully placed before our eyes. The movie asks the question: can a beautiful young woman who has given up hope, live with a man twice her age whose art and life need her?
There are many plot twists and turns brought to the viewer by exceptionally fine acting by French pop singing star Paradis, the self disciplined Auteuil, and excellent direction by Patrice Leconte ("The Hairdresser's Husband" and "Ridicule"). The subtitles are easy to read and the music is cleverly well selected. For example, we are haunted by Brenda Lee's far away, almost ironicly singing "I'm Sorry" (this in a French film) as Adelle and Gabor part company "forever" at one point. Very satisfying entertainment!
