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Gabrielle details
| Format: | 15 DVD |
|---|---|
| Starring: | Pascal Greggory, Raina Kabaivanska, Isabelle Huppert |
| Director: | Patrice Chereau |
| Genres: | Drama - General, World Cinema - French |
| Studio: | FUSION MEDIA |
| Name | Discs | |
|---|---|---|
Gabrielle |
15 Feature |
DVD Information
| Run time: | 1 hour 27 minutes |
|---|---|
| Rental release: | 23 Apr 2007 |
| Main languages: | French |
| Subtitles: | English |
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LOVEFiLM Review
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By Tom Charity from LOVEFiLMA marriage begins to unravell when Gabrielle leaves her husband with only a letter in this adaptation of The Return by Joseph Conrad.
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Most helpful review
Gabrielle
By SAI81 (360 reviews) from Tonbridge , 18 Mar 2007[Highly rated reviewer]
Paris, 1900. Jean (Greggory) comes home to a note from his wife saying she has left him for another man. However Gabrielle (Huppert) returns within hours Jean spends the next few days trying to find out from his wife what has been going on in her, their, life that led to this point.
Essentially a two character chamber piece taking place in a single house Patrice Chereau's film, with its long dialogue heavy scenes, can feel stagey.
Films like this live or die by performance and Chereau is blessed in this regard. Huppert is among the best actresses in the world and, at 53, she's at the height of her powers. She's got the more passive role here but it would be hard to imagine a performer who can say more with silence. In the long periods where she's merely listening to Greggoy she's utterly compelling, telling you all you need with beautifully subtle use of expression.
This isn't to say that she's less compelling when she has dialogue, to the contrary, the range and depth of her performance is stunning, and certainly few could deliver a put down like 'I hate the feel of your sperm in me' with such class.
Greggory, an actor I'd never seen until The Page Turner last week, is also excellent, all sound and fury compared to Huppert's silent composure. His character is far easier to empathise with as he struggles for answers as to why his wife has not merely left, but returned.
These two performances bounce off one another to such stunning effect that one can almost forgive the theatricality of Chereau's staging, his bizzare use of stock, flitting between colour and black and white until the halfway mark, when he seems to tire of this and just switches to colour.
See Gabrielle for the actors, they really are great, and try and forgive the the self concious style.- Was this review helpful to you?
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All reviews
(11)A very classy film.
By Nitaray (222 reviews) from Farnham , 25 Sep 2011Patrice Chereau's beautifully photographed period drama of Joseph Conrad's original novella is a visual feast. Re-created in Paris, it captures the elegance of Parisian high society.
Jean Hervey is a wealthy businessman, proud of his success in life, his elegant house, and his beautiful wife,Gabrielle.Their relationship however, is a sham. Beneath the glossy veneer of wealth and privelege, there is nothing left of their early passion for one another.
Pascal Greggory gives a wonderful performance as the haughty Jean Hervey, and particularly so when the marriage cracks. His disentragation is probably the best moment in the film, in a film with many good moments.
Isabelle Huppert is ideally cast as the cool, distant Madame Hervey, waited on hand an foot and with nothing to do except organise yet another soiree for their exclusive circle of friends.
A second viewing for me, I enjoyed every moment.- Was this review helpful to you?
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A delight
By a customer from Cornwall , 14 Feb 2010I adored this - the whole thing.
I found myself contrasting the two lead characters with others played by the actors earlier in their careers: Huppert in Chabrol's 'Mme Bovary' amd Greggory in Rohmer's 'Pauline at the beach'.
Ooh - and the tenderness of the servants reminded me a little of the chorus in Cacoyannis' 'Electra'.
Best I've seen by Chereau.- Was this review helpful to you?
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dull and directionless
By a customer from sheffield , 26 Sep 2008we were looking forward to watching this, but found it dull and directionless - a real disappointment- Was this review helpful to you?
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French!
By sophy300 (67 reviews) from Newcastle upon Tyne , 21 Jul 2008This is a good example of the french genre of lots of talk and little action and a bit of nudity. Critically acclaimed but it needs perseverence to make it to the end.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Boring and over long
By a customer from Midlands , 24 Jun 2008This film doesn't really do much, it's claustrophobic and stuffy. For a French film it is wordy, but you never get a sense of connection with the characters. You just hope they both get lost and leave you alone.- Was this review helpful to you?
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