In 1950s France, a free-spirited woman trapped in an arranged marriage falls in love with an injured veteran of the Indochinese War.
| Tagline | |
| Release Date: | Oct 19, 2016 |
| Genres: | Drama, Romance |
| Production Company: | Les Productions du Trésor, StudioCanal, Lunanime, France 3 Cinéma |
| Production Countries: | Belgium, France |
| Casts: | Marion Cotillard, Louis Garrel, Àlex Brendemühl, Brigitte Roüan, Victoire du Bois, Aloïse Sauvage, Daniel Para, Jihwan Kim, Victor Quilichini, Ange Black-Bereyziat, Sören Rochefort |
| Status: | Released |
| Budget: | $10300000 |
| Revenue: | 47748 |
From an early age, "Gabrielle" (Marion Cotillard) has shown a bit of a rebellious spirit. As a girl, she was determined not to obey her parental wish to marry the local "Jose" (a subtly nuanced effort from Alex Brendemühl) - even though he was quite fond of her, and as a result she lived in the semi-seclusion that befitted an unwed girl in rural France. Her "break" comes in the unlikely form of some kidney stones that necessitates a trip to an Alpine hospital. It's here that she encounters the recovering "André" (Louis Garrel) who has just returned from French Indochina shell-shocked and badly wounded. There's a little of a Wildred Owen poem to this drama, I thought. It shows us the results of the horrors of war, the after effects and trauma, but there's also a degree of hope and optimism as their love story takes shape and maybe, just maybe, there's scope for contentment somewhere. Cotillard is on solid form as the rather self-obsessed and just a bit flaky "Gabrielle" and though Garrel doesn't have so much to do, he still comes across convincingly as a soldier conflicted by a reality and a dream - it's that conclusion that is quite a touching affair, and causes us to have a think about just who "Gabrielle" actually is. The film looks good and is well scored by Daniel Pemberton which all gives a certain lustre to Cotillard's portrayal of a woman I don't think I'd have liked very much.
