In A Girl Cut in Two, Sagnier is yummy as a local TV weathergirl caught between a womanizing older novelist (François Berléand) and a nouveau riche playboy (Magimel) used to getting his own way.
A Girl Cut in Two (2008)
Rated: Not Rated
Runtime: 1 hr 55 mins
Theatrical Release: Aug 15, 2008 Limited
Synopsis: The French master of suspense Claude Chabrol returns with the razor-sharp, darkly seductive, A GIRL CUT IN TWO. Gabrielle Deneige (Ludivine Sagnier of Swimming Pool) is an independent, ambitious TV weather girl torn between her love of a distinguished author several decades her... The French master of suspense Claude Chabrol returns with the razor-sharp, darkly seductive, A GIRL CUT IN TWO. Gabrielle Deneige (Ludivine Sagnier of Swimming Pool) is an independent, ambitious TV weather girl torn between her love of a distinguished author several decades her senior (Francois Berléand), and the attentions of a headstrong, potentially unstable young suitor (Benoit Magimel). An unspoken past between the two men heightens tensions, and though she's initially certain of her love for one them, the see-saw demands and whims of both men keep confusing - and darkening - matters. Before long she's encountering emotional and societal forces well beyond her control, inexorably leading to a shocking clash of violence and passion. Inspired by the sensational Gilded Age murder of Madison Square Garden architect Stanford White, A Girl Cut in Two is trademark Chabrol: fiendishly entertaining and impossible to shake. [More]
Genre: Foreign Films
Starring: Ludivine Sagnier, Benoit Magimel, François Berléand, Valeria Cavalli, Mathilda May
Screenwriter: Cécile Maistre, Claude Chabrol
Producer: Patrick Godeau
Composer: Matthieu Chabrol
Reviews
Bordering on the surreal, Chabrol's latest film investigates conflicting desires in a woman in love. The old meets the new and the quandary remains unresolved.
A Girl Cut in Two is a rich, textured divertissement from Claude Chabrol, a sinister master of the art.
Chabrol was never as groundbreaking formally as his peers, but usually his films can be counted on for a craftsmen-like level of polish. Here, though, even that falters.
Veteran filmmaker Claude Chabrol's icy tale of love, lust and self-delusion is an elegant exercise in corrosive psychological suspense.
Chabrol has made a career out of savage class warfare, and A Girl Cut In Two fires off another bitter salvo.
Chabrol is approaching the big 8-0, yet he continues to do quality work, as shown by A Girl Cut in Two.
All of the characters are walking contradictions, each pulling and pushing away the viewer. Part of the film's tension derives from what the audience clearly sees and what Gabrielle doesn't.
The pacing has a tendency to downshift from deliberate to meandering at crucial moments, and though the trio of actors is on point—especially Magimel, a master at smug menace -- Chabrol’s digs feel frustratingly halfhearted.
The film’s cerebral affectations unravel because neither one is ultimately able to carry the film’s disjointed plot.
A Girl Cut in Two is a spry piece of work. Chabrol uses this sinister clown show as a means to puncture the media world's hot-air balloons -- as well as to highlight the hypocrisies of his favorite target, the haute bourgeoisie.
An ill-fated love triangle with a surprising twist and a chilling message for shameless gold-diggers and suave Casanovas alike.
One of those Chabrol productions perched awkwardly between thriller and comedy.
This latest skewering of the privileged, tragically flawed and selfishly driven makes it clear that there is no other filmmaker to better tell The Eliot Spitzer Story.
A cynically effective look at the suffocating lives endured by some of the rich and famous.
An exploration by French director Claude Chabrol of the illusions of love in the magical worlds of publishing, the media and old money.
Still, watching a Claude Chabrol film is watching a master at work and this is an example of such.
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