UN PONT ENTRE DEUX RIVES
THE BRIDGE |
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Director:
Gérard Depardieu & Frédéric Auburtin
Screenplay: François Dupeyron, based on the novel by Alain
Leblanc.
Cast: Mina: Carole Bouquet; George: Gérard Depardieu; Tommy:
Stanislas Crevillen; Matthias: Charles Berling.
Running time: 88'
Year of production: 1999
Rating: Not rated
Gauge: 35mm (color)
Distributor: Pathfinder Pictures
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“This
elegant and beautiful film suggests that while love can be cruelly
selfish in its impact on the innocent, it does not judge Mina for
pursuing it at the expense of others. The Bridge is as compassionate
as it is unsentimental.” Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times. |
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1962,
a small town in Normandy: Mina, bored with her marriage of 15 years,
likes to escape from the housework into the fantasy world of the cinema.
One day at a matinee with her adolescent son Tommy, she meets Matthias,
a dashing engineer who instantly lights up her drab, domestic life.
As chance would have it, her husband George, unemployed after recently
losing his construction business, lands a job as a laborer building
a bridge designed by Matthias. The work keeps him out of town during
the week, offering Mina and Matthias ample opportunity to meet, go
out and make love. Tommy is devastated when he discovers his mother’s
affair, but keeps the secret from his father, suffers agonies of conscience
and finally finds himself estranged from both parents. By the time
George catches on, Mina is fully committed to and all but flaunting
her affair. Seeing an avenue of escape from her stale life and marriage,
she seizes it, abandoning both Tommy and George and fleeing to a life
of leisure with Matthias. This quiet, understated film treats its
characters impartially, withholding judgement in order to present,
all the more clearly, how quickly, unexpectedly and thoroughly a seemingly
stable marriage can fall apart, and with what little provocation.
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| PHOTO Courtesy
of Phaedra Cinema |
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