Dir.
Claude Chabrol, 2007, Germany/France, 115 mins
Cast: Ludivine Sagnier, Benoît Magimel, François Berléand, Mathilda May, Carol ine Silhol, Marie Bunel, Valéria Cavalli
Review by Martyn Bamber
Tensions, resentments, secrets and dissatisfactions are all hidden behind the facade of middle class civility in Claude Chabrol's latest film, The Girl Cut in Two . The girl in question is Gabrielle (Ludivine Sagnier), a young television weather presenter who has a brief encounter with well-known author Charles Saint-Denis (François Berléand) at the TV station where she works. Gabrielle and Charles meet again at a book signing and it's clear that the two of them are attracted to each other. Gabrielle and Charles soon begin an affair, despite the significant age gap between them and the fact that the Charles is married.
But Gabrielle has another admirer, the rich and spoilt Paul Gaudens (Benoît Magimel), heir to a pharmaceutical fortune. To complicate matters, Paul hates Charles and openly taunts the author at the aforementioned book signing. Gabrielle is torn between the two men; the older Charles, who is intelligent and charming but can also be dismissive and aloof (and who does not want to leave his wife, played by Valéria Cavalli), and the younger Paul, who constantly flatters Gabrielle and determinedly pursues her, but who is also arrogant, immature and quite possibly disturbed as well. Gabrielle soon finds herself caught between two men who love her, but neither of whom is exactly suitable.
The part of Gabrielle represents a coming-of-age role for Ludivine Sagnier. After attracting attention a few years ago in two notable François Ozon films (as a member of the high profile ensemble cast in 8 Women , 2002, and as a seductive teenager in Swimming Pool , 2003), Sagnier has subtly matured as an actress, and she shows us Gabrielle as a young woman learning to grow up the hard way. The character could have been a straightforward symbol of naive youth and corrupted innocence, a passive and token beautiful girl being romantically pursued by two men, but there is much more to the character than that. Gabrielle's romantic life may be troublesome, but she is also a smart and opinionated woman with a promising career ahead of her.
François Berléand (probably familiar to most UK filmgoers from his recurring role as a policeman in the three Transporter movies) combines a fierce intelligence with world-weariness, showing us a man who is smart and successful, with a devoted wife and a loyal publisher (Mathilda May), but who seems oddly unhappy with his life. Benoît Magimel as the self indulgent Paul evokes a mixture of laughter, sympathy and shock from the audience. Magimel expertly pulls off a difficult role and adds shades of grey to a part that could have easily turned into a caricature.
(Note: spoilers ahead). Although Claude Chabrol has often been seen as a French equivalent to Alfred Hitchcock, his films tend to be more low-key and slower placed than those of Hitchcock, and The Girl Cut in Two is no exception. While Chabrol undoubtedly keeps a tight grip on his material, if often seems as though nothing much is happening apart from polite conversation. But as he has done in a number of his other films, he shows how something seemingly random can erupt out of nowhere and throw an ordered world into chaos. From the opening shots that are drenched in red (taken through the windscreen of a car), Chabrol has already made us aware that despite the peaceful and luxurious settings, something sinister is also present, which anticipates the physical and psychological violence to come.
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