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Gilles' Wife (2006)
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Reviews Counted:22
Fresh:18
Rotten:4
Average Rating:6.8/10
Rated: Not Rated
Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins
Theatrical Release:Nov 16, 2005 Limited
Synopsis: Set in the 1930's, Gilles' Wife is a haunting tale of love and betrayal in a small mining town on the outskirts of France. A startling new film from director Frederic Fonteyne (Une Liaison... Set in the 1930's, Gilles' Wife is a haunting tale of love and betrayal in a small mining town on the outskirts of France. A startling new film from director Frederic Fonteyne (Une Liaison Pornographique), and featuring an extraordinary performance from Emmanuelle Devos (Kings and Queen), it tells the story of Elisa, a devoted wife who begins to suspect her husband Gilles is having an affair with her younger sister. Determined to save her marriage, Elisa undertakes a strange and disquieting battle to recover what she has lost, and to become once again, Gilles' wife. --© Cinema Guild [More]
Starring: Emmanuelle Devos, Clovis Cornillac, Laura Smet
Starring: Emmanuelle Devos, Clovis Cornillac, Laura Smet
Director: Frederic Fonteyne
Director: Frederic Fonteyne
Studio: Cinema Guild
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Reviews for Gilles' Wife
A small, perfect storm of beautiful components brought together by Fonteyne and his team.
It's a French love story that's tragic (is there any other kind), but it does make you glad you're not in the middle of this menage a misery. It's definitely worth a look.
Easy to fall into, courtesy of the inviting, autumnal cinematography of Virginie Saint-Martin and the persuasive, committed and sensual performance of the title character, played by Emmanuelle Devos.
While Devos provides a striking depth of emotion as Elisa, her skills aren't quite enough to keep the movie from feeling cold and distant.
Were Hitchcock alive, he'd surely claim the ripe and faintly sinister Devos as his muse.
Told primarily via body language and facial expressions with a minimum of dialogue, beautifully observed, emotionally intense tale is an ambitious and rewarding outing for Frederic Fonteyne.
...there are copious rewards for the viewer who can let things unfold as they must.
It comes off as reaching too far for originality, a sense that is only tied up with a ribbon by a completely dumb and desperate twist ending.
Gilles' Wife is a disquieting film of frustrating subtlety. But Devos is a compelling presence at the heart of it. She, and the scenery that is her backdrop, make it worth the three espressos you'll need to drink to stay awake through it all.
Somehow, the plot remains emotionally coherent -- involving, even -- amid a minimum of dialogue.
Like those '30 classics it suggests, Gilles' Wife seduces us with true cinematic magic: rich characters, great acting and that rapturous old French blend of realism and theatricality.
I was fascinated by the face of Emmanuelle Devos, and her face is specifically why I recommend the movie.
Fonteyne invests the material with a minimalist but powerful tension, and cinematographer Virginie Saint-Martin provides one beautifully composed visual after another.
This is Devos' show: She has a face as expressive as any melodrama queen from Hollywood's golden age, and for anyone who's yet to experience the power of this singular performer, this is an excellent place to start.
This is a lyrical art movie with admittedly limited commercial appeal, but worth seeing for cinematic explorers.
Elisa remains strangely silent, in a mute display of masochism that is guaranteed to make contemporary hard-core feminists grind their teeth in furious frustration.
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