NE TOUCHEZ PAS
LA HACHE
THE DUCHESS OF LANGEAIS |
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DIRECTOR
Jacques Rivette
SCREENPLAY
Pascal Bonitzer, Christine Laurent &
Jacques Rivette. Based on Honoré de Balzac’s
novella La duchesse de Langeais.
CAST
Antoinette de Langeais:
Jeanne Balibar
Armand de Montriveau:
Guillaume Depardieu
Vidame de Pamiers: Michel Piccoli
Princesse de Blamont-Chauvry: Bulle Ogier
Clara de Sérizy: Anne Cantineau
Julien: Mathias Jung
Lisette: Julie Judd
Running time: 137’
Production: France / Italy, 2007
Rating: Not rated
Gauge: 35mm, DVD (color)
GENRE
Drama
DISTRIBUTOR
New Yorker Films
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“Jacques Rivette's ‘Duchess
of Langeais’ seems to me a nearly impeccable work of art
- beautiful, true, profound. Based on Balzac's 1834 short novel
and set against the French Restoration - Napoleon is in exile
and a Bourbon king again sits on the throne - it traces how
a passionate affair of the heart curdles into cruelty and obsession.
Originally titled ‘Don't Touch the Ax’ (a threat
guaranteed to make noble necks twitch), it is a story about
manners, language, power and society and the bodies caught in
their grip. ‘Life,’ one character observes, ‘is
simply a complication of interests and feelings.’ Art
too.”
Manohla Dargis, New York Times |
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The story takes place during
the Restoration, a period when the dominant values are hypocrisy,
social niceties and appearances. Antoinette de Navarreins, a
Parisian coquette and wife of Duke de Langeais, is a product
of her society. At a ball, she meets General Armand de Montriveau
who seems to be her exact opposite. He has just returned from
Africa and has little interest in Parisian society. On their
first encounter, the Duchess and the General fall hopelessly
in love with each other. For months, they meet every evening
from eight to ten, as social etiquette requires. But Montriveau,
a free spirit, wants to love the Duchess in broad daylight.
Afraid of her feelings and bound to the rules of society, she
rejects him. Convinced that the duchess is playing games, Montriveau
decides to ignore his beloved. Desperate, she tries to reach
out to him, endangering her reputation and status. When her
last attempt fails, she disappears. Five years later, Montriveau
arrives on a Spanish island. He has been searching for Antoinette
in all the convents of Europe and America. In the monastery
on the island he finally finds her. But it is too late for a
material/physical love, and their story will remain as Montriveau
murmurs “a book read during childhood, a poem”.
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| PHOTO New
Yorker Films |
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