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THE DUCHESS OF LANGEAIS Send This Review to a Friend
Jacques Rivette, an icon of the French New Wave, is nearly 80 and continues to make movies. As evidenced by “The Duchess of Langeais,” he still knows how to create a skillful, fine looking and technical accomplished film. The trouble is that for all its admirable finesse, “The Duchess of Langeais” grows boring.
Rivette has based his film upon the novella by Honoré de Balzac, with Pascal Bonitzer and Christine Laurent collaborating on the screenplay. The 1820 Parisian setting is handsomely realized. The story is intriguing at first, but as it drags on, the nasty maneuverings become wearing.
Jeanne Balibar is effectively flirtatious as the married Antoinette, the Duchess. Guillaume Depardieu is impressive as General Armand de Montriveau, who is attracted to her. A cat and mouse game begins. The Duchess flirts, then holds back. Montriveau pursues—up to a point. When he finds himself rejected in the game playing, he turns angry and refuses to respond when the Duchess hungers for him.
She becomes increasing obsessed and frantic. He becomes cruelly intransigent. Where will all of this lead? Nowhere good, to be sure, as the difficulties escalate and what started as a typical romantic game in the context of society at the time grows dangerously unrequited, involving miscalculation and humiliation. The cast also includes such notables as Bulle Ogier, Michel Piccoli and director Barbet Schroeder. If you have the patience, you may enjoy looking in on this fresh example of work by a masterly filmmaker. An IFC Films release.
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