A Girl Cut in Two (review)

It’s billed as a “Hitchcockian thriller,” but frankly I see nothing either Hitchcockian nor thrilling this same-old Gallic tale of an older man, the younger woman who adores him for no apparent reason (even as he insults her and treats her like a child), and the other, younger man who wants her and might possibly maybe do something violent to get her. If there’s satire in filmmaker Claude Chabrol’s tedious romantic roundrobin -- did I mention that the old man, a writer (François Berléand), is married, and so has at least one other woman on his mind? did I mention that the younger man (Benoît Magimel) has a dodgy history his with people he supposedly might be expected to love? -- I can’t see it. Is it supposed to be satirical that the girl (Ludivine Sagnier) has nothing to recommend her but dewey youth, uncomplicated beauty, and a tendency to mope to a suicidal degree when her heart gets broken by a man decades older than her? (Not that that’s actually something to recommend her, except perhaps in the fantasies of men like almost 80-year-old Chabrol.) That looks like a helluva lot like other damn story of the younger woman/older man dynamic we’ve ever seen.

support


pre-Disqus comments

Well, I saw the new Chabrol-movie this week in a sneak preview, which featured dialogues like:

He: Everything changes, but women's legs.

She: Are you being nostalgic?

He: No, I'm being sexist.

Wait, the last bit was not really in the movie, but would have been more appropriate. But I guess you get the picture.

Disqus comments

blog comments powered by Disqus

  
posted:
Wed Dec 10 08, 5:23PM

categories:
reviews
> 2008 theatrical releases




1 pre-Disqus comments
Disqus comments

info


MPAA: not rated

viewed at home on a small screen

official site

IMDB


more reviews at MRQE

dvd



Amazon U.K.


tip jar





share


 
 


read more


arthouse
drama
non-English-language
romance


related


· The Devil’s Double (review)
· opening in the U.K. May 20-22: ‘Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,’ ‘A Girl Cut in Two,’ ‘Tormented,’ more
· oh, great: now women have to be sexy behind the camera, too
· Contagion (trailer)
· watch it: most of Alfred Hitchcock’s cameo appearances in 3:50
· The Tourist (review)
· cinematic roots of: ‘Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole’
· calling bullshit: on the supposed bisexuality of viewership
· new this week in U.S., Canadian, and U.K. theaters: ‘Knight and Day,’ ‘Grown Up,’ ‘Get Him to the Greek,’ ‘When in Rome,’ more
· watch it: a very young Alfred Hitchcock says naughty things...


bloggy


previous post:
bias update

next post:
‘Lost’: Season Four on DVD

search




search FlickFilosopher.com


follow

  
  
  
(in case of site outages or other emergencies, I'll update my status on Twitter and Facebook)



Get our toolbar!

follow FlickFilosopher.com no matter where you are online


share and enjoy

shop to support

support FlickFilosopher.com when you click through here and buy almost anything at:

Amazon U.S.
Amazon Canada
Amazon U.K.
Amazon Germany
Amazon France
Amazon Spain
Amazon Italy
Chapters/Indigo (Canada)