A Girl Cut in Two (French:
La Fille coupée en deux) is a
2007The year 2007 in film saw many new films released worldwide, including several major mainstream sequels, prequels, and remakes as well as original films.-Top grossing films:...
FrenchThe Cinema of France comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of France or by French filmmakers abroad.France was the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its early significant contributions. Several important cinematic movements, including the Nouvelle...
comedy filmComedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. Also, films in this style typically have a happy ending . One of the oldest genres in film, some of the very first silent movies were comedies...
directed by
Claude ChabrolClaude Chabrol is a French film director, a member of the French New Wave group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s...
and starring
Ludivine SagnierLudivine Sagnier is a French actress and model, who has worked in 33 movies since 1989. She was nominated two César Awards for Best Supporting Actress in Swimming Pool and Un secret .-Early life:...
,
François BerléandFrançois Berléand is a French actor.He plays Gilles Triquet, the officer manager and equivalent of David Brent in Le Bureau, the French version of The Office, produced by Canal+. He released a book about his childhood in 2006, Le fils de l'homme invisible...
, and
Benoît MagimelBenoît Magimel is a French actor. A prolific actor who was 12 when he appeared in his first film, Magimel has starred in a variety of roles in French cinema....
. The film was released in France in August 8, 2007 and a limited release in the United States beginning on August 15, 2008.
The film revolves around two men who vie for a single young woman, Gabrielle Deneige. Gabrielle is the local weather woman and is young, in her twenties who lives with mother, who works in a little bookstore.
A Girl Cut in Two (French:
La Fille coupée en deux) is a
2007The year 2007 in film saw many new films released worldwide, including several major mainstream sequels, prequels, and remakes as well as original films.-Top grossing films:...
FrenchThe Cinema of France comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of France or by French filmmakers abroad.France was the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its early significant contributions. Several important cinematic movements, including the Nouvelle...
comedy filmComedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. Also, films in this style typically have a happy ending . One of the oldest genres in film, some of the very first silent movies were comedies...
directed by
Claude ChabrolClaude Chabrol is a French film director, a member of the French New Wave group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s...
and starring
Ludivine SagnierLudivine Sagnier is a French actress and model, who has worked in 33 movies since 1989. She was nominated two César Awards for Best Supporting Actress in Swimming Pool and Un secret .-Early life:...
,
François BerléandFrançois Berléand is a French actor.He plays Gilles Triquet, the officer manager and equivalent of David Brent in Le Bureau, the French version of The Office, produced by Canal+. He released a book about his childhood in 2006, Le fils de l'homme invisible...
, and
Benoît MagimelBenoît Magimel is a French actor. A prolific actor who was 12 when he appeared in his first film, Magimel has starred in a variety of roles in French cinema....
. The film was released in France in August 8, 2007 and a limited release in the United States beginning on August 15, 2008.
Plot
The film revolves around two men who vie for a single young woman, Gabrielle Deneige. Gabrielle is the local weather woman and is young, in her twenties who lives with mother, who works in a little bookstore. Charles Saint-Denis is a famed author who has just written a new book. He seems to shy away from the public eye and lives in the countryside of Lyon with his wife. At a party after a television interview about his new novel, Charles first spies the young Gabrielle. Charles then attends a book signing in the bookshop where Gabrielle's mother works. After a little flirting, Charles gives Gabrielle a copy of his book and an invitation for her to attend an auction with him. She agrees. It is after the local scion of a pharmaceutical company, Paul Gaudens, enters the store and confronts Saint-Denis. After the confrontation, Paul sees Gabrielle. He then invites her to dinner with him. She agrees and they go to a nice restaurant. During the meal Paul proposes and confesses his love. On Saturday, Gabrielle attends the auction with Charles. After the auction they return to Charles' flat in the city. There they have sex. When Gabrielle asks if they shall meet again in the evening, Charles tells her it would be best that he contact her later. She storms out of the flat furious that she was another of Saint-Denis' playthings.
Upon returning to her work at the TV station she is greeted by Paul and a bouquet of flowers. After he professes his love again and she admits she likes him a little, another bouquet arrives—this time with a card from Charles telling her to "come." She runs to his flat leaving Paul furious that his rival has taken Gabrielle. When Gabrielle arrives at Charles' flat, he apologizes and they again have sex.
Some time later Charles takes Gabrielle to a club where his friends are. We later learn that Charles asks Gabrielle to perform sexual acts on his friends to show how liberated she is (a nod to the remark about Marquis de Sade in the beginning of the film). Charles then leaves the country, has his wife change the locks to his flat,and ends conversation with Gabrielle. Gabrielle is crushed by these acts. Stuck a virtual catatonic state, Paul offers to take her away. Gabrielle's mother complies after Gabrielle's uncle remarks that the rich prince whisked away sleeping beauty.
Paul takes Gabrielle to Lisbon. Thinking about Charles all the while, Paul notices that he cannot make her forget Charles. While getting a drink, Gabrielle tells Paul that they should be just friends. Paul furious begins to shout and tells Gabrielle that he never wants to see her again. Gabrielle, drunk, goes to see Paul where she says that she will marry him. He agrees and they are soon engaged. Paul's mother detests Gabrielle. Charles learns of Paul and Gabrielle's engagement on the local news. At the gown fitting, Charles talks to Gabrielle. Gabrielle tells Charles that she loves him and she won't marry Paul if Charles leaves his wife.
Gabrielle obviously does not fit into the Gaudens family. Upon a trip to Lisbon, Paul learns that Gabrielle participated in sex acts with Charles' friends and that Charles is impotent. Paul disgusted threaten Gabrielle with a small pistol. He puts to the gun to his head and pulls the trigger, revealing that it is not loaded. Later at a benefit dinner with Paul's mother, Paul and Gabrielle attend. Charles is there also and when delivering the key-note address, Paul walks on the stage and shots Charles for "Perverting my wife."
Gabrielle is called to testify against Charles and his sexual depravity. She refuses, until upon the third lawyer hired by the Gaudens gets her to go talk to Paul's mother. Here we learn that Paul may have killed his older brother when he was three years old in the bathroom. Gabrielle tells the truth in court. When she goes to visit Paul, who received only seven years in prison, he denies her. When Gabrielle goes to see Paul's mother, she tells Gabrielle that she was played and will soon receive divorce papers from Paul. Gabrielle will also not get any money from the Gaudens. Gabrielle seems flippant and tells Paul's mother that she is keeping the car that Paul gave her, because she needs it.
The movie ends with Gabrielle being sawed in two and reappearing in her uncle's magic show.
External links
- Review at The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded in 1851 and published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"—named for its staid appearance and style—is regarded as a national newspaper of record...