The Duchess of Langeais

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07/03/2013 Literate adaptation but slow-moving and overlong. See more 10/14/2011 Long and frustrating, but intoxicating for some reason. A romance of completely unconsummated love. See more 09/11/2011 I'm sure Balzac would have loved this adaptation of his work but the acting was much too melodramatic for my liking. Jeanne Balibar spends her whole time swooning and collapsing onto sofas and Guillaume Depardieu drove me mad as he clacked around on his wooden leg with his floppy hair. The film was far, far too long.... See more 05/31/2011 An elegant tale chronicling the complex and failed love affair between a married duchess and a decorated army officer. Rivette films the action beautifully with a camera that floats through the room, while unfolding the story in a subtle manner. Most interesting in the film is the duchess' choosing of religion as death to escape her fatally flawed relationship. What is for many a choice to a fuller kind of life becomes for her a means of ushering in her death. See more 11/23/2010 I do enjoy some period pieces, but this one not so much :( See more 10/04/2010 After watching The Duchess of Langeais I was unsure whether I just watched a terrific minimalist film or the excitement equivalent of viewing over 2 hours of the fireplace channel. Yes, there are plenty of fires with the wood cracking, so this film is a must for pyros. However, the story itself concerns a married duchess and her almost affair with an aristocratic French officer. The two meet, flirt, then one denies the other. The sexual frustrations are felt throughout by characters and viewer alike. Certainly a mockery of bourgeois morals, The Duchess of Langeais is beautiful to look at, but still somewhat empty. See more Read all reviews

The Duchess of Langeais

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