Gabrielle
by Patrice Chéreau
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Actor: Chantal Neuwirth, Claudia Coli, Isabelle Huppert, Pascal Greggory, Thierry HancisseDirector: Patrice Chéreau
Brand: Uni
Cinematographer: Eric Gautier
Producer: Patrice Chéreau
Writer: Patrice Chéreau
Producer: Ferdinanda Frangipane
Producer: Joseph Strub
Writer: Anne-Louise Trividic
Writer: Joseph Conrad
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-12-19
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Ifc
DVD Reviews of Gabrielle
DVD Review: A Beautiful Enigma
Summary: 5 Stars
Isabelle Huppert is one of the great actresses of French cinema. She is as beautiful in her early 50's in "Gabrielle," released in 2005, as she was in her late 20's in "La Truite," released in 1982. She is a perfect choice to play Gabrielle Hervey, a woman who leaves a note to her husband that she has left him for another man; and then returns only three hours later.
Huppert, as Gabrielle Hervey, is beautiful and enigmatic as her husband, Jean (played by Pascal Gregory), spends the rest of the evening and the next day trying to discover why she left him; for whom she left him, and what brought her back. He also wants to discover whether they can be reconciled. If so, on what terms. In the tortuous emotional process that follows Jean is impelled to discover the real person to whom he is married.
Jean Hervey is an accomplished and extremely wealthy 19th century business man. According to his own account success in business has come naturally and easily for him, at least until he finds Gabrielle's letter. His house is large and beautifully lavish with a hint of "Citizen Kane" in its gauche overabundance of sculpture. Overseeing this material world is the masterpiece of his possessions, Gabrielle.
In the opening sequence, filmed in black and white, Jean mentally brags to the viewer of his success as he walks home from the train station. He contemplates Gabrielle on this walk and the viewer is ushered into a dinner party previously given by the Herveys, filmed in color. Huppert's Gabrielle is radiant and enigmatic to all as the hostess of the dinner party. Gabrielle is especially a riddle to Jean who admires her ability to help him achieve the status he seeks at the center of a high society which he disdains, but requires as a trophy of his material success.
As the table guests engage in vigorous repartee Jean basks quietly in glory at the head of the dinner table. He admires Gabrielle's own deft, brief and perfectly hosted conversation. At the same time it is obvious that Jean has no idea of what moves her; nor does he really seem to care to explore her inner lights. She plays the role he has assigned her as he would any other instrument or employee of his business. His complacency with this arrangement after ten years of marriage is evident. When he arrives home he reads Gabrielle's letter, tears at his hair in shock, and then finds to his amazement that she has returned. Her return is a masterfully crafted scene.
The destruction of his well planned and ordered life leads to gripping tension and drama as Jean repeatedly theorizes, guesses, cajoles and pleads with Gabrielle to reveal what led to her to flee and then return. The threat of violence against the petite and physically fragile Gabrielle subsists as subtext throughout. Jean is totally dumfounded that his assumptions about Gabrielle have been destroyed by her actions. One suspects that equally frightening for Jean is that her unpredictable actions raise uncomfortable questions about other fundamental assumptions Jean has made about his life.
Yet Gabrielle is neither intimidated nor particularly revelatory in reacting to Jean's efforts to learn the answers to the questions posed by her brief disappearance and return. Gabrielle rarely reveals vulnerability; and then usually only to her servants. Jean is only given small hints why Gabrielle acted as she did. Piecing together those hints to discover Gabrielle's motivation and true character is one of the most interesting aspects of the movie for the viewer.
The reason she gives for returning is more than shocking and deliciously ironic. The gorgeous dénouement in the bedroom, which silently announces the terms upon which Gabrielle agrees to return, and Jean's reaction to it, is a great ending for a great movie.
As noted by others, "Gabrielle" is based upon the novella "The Return" by Joseph Conrad. That is to say that action, like the lighting, only supplements the dialogue. The viewer has to work to appreciate this movie but the effort is well worth it.
Description of Gabrielle
The marriage between gabrielle & jean begins to fray after the discovery of a letter that belongs to gabrielle. Studio: Uni Dist Corp (music) Release Date: 12/19/2006 Starring: Isabelle Huppert Claudia Goli Run time: 90 minutes Director: Patrice ChereauBestsellers in DVD
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