The two most honest comments on this Chabrol's poor effort are by Writers Reign's and Hcaruso's.But to be honest is not rewarding cause their insightful essays were mostly deemed "non useful".
To write that "La Fille Coupée En Deux" is a near scene -for- scene ripoff is to state the obvious:the great Richard Fleischer's "the girl on the red velvet swing"(1955) had already told the story in a much better way.People who dismiss the two comments I mention above should watch it,then decide if they are wrong.
I was in my car in the summer of 2007 when I heard a Chabrol interview on the radio.He was savoring Foie Gras on toast while talking about his new movie.He did not mention Richard Fleischer although in an American interview (reproduced by Jdcopp) he said he knew and he liked the movie:but he certainly thought that the French audience was not learned enough to know the American director or maybe he wanted to avoid any comparison.For that matter,he was right.
Chabrol has been making movies for years ,and I have probably seen more of his works than any other French director,with the exception of Julien Duvivier.To think that around 1970,he was my favorite FRench director;at the time ,his actors were the Creme De LA Creme :Michel Bouquet,Stephane Audran,Jean Yanne,Michel Piccoli...Not that FRançois Berléand is a bad actor:he's simply not handsome enough to portray this greybeard -whereas James Mason...- :it takes a lot of imagination to believe that Ludivine Seignier is crazy about him.I have never liked Benoit Magimel who anyway is miscast as a playboy (Farley Granger he is absolutely not).It's supporting actress Caroline Sihol who saves the end of the movie with her terrifying portrayal of an over possessive mother who tells the heroine she is not one of them ,that is to say one of the bourgeoisie ,Chabrol's favorite target: this is the only Chabrolesque touch ,which reminds me of "La Rupture" (1970) in which Stephane Audran was an intruder too .
As for the two final scenes (Chabrol's and Fleischer's),Joan Collins swinging to the moon is much more memorable than Chabrol's equivalent ,which also steals the "show " idea from the 1955 work.
To make the heroine a weather girl is not a good idea either ,for ,in France ,these persons are often looked upon as "stars" , whereas Fleischer's babe was a music hall dancer,not an honorable job at the time .
Chabrol's passion for gastronomy which shows in ALL his movies is here more present than ever.They do not stop eating or drinking champagne except when they make love,drive or kill.And even....
To write that "La Fille Coupée En Deux" is a near scene -for- scene ripoff is to state the obvious:the great Richard Fleischer's "the girl on the red velvet swing"(1955) had already told the story in a much better way.People who dismiss the two comments I mention above should watch it,then decide if they are wrong.
I was in my car in the summer of 2007 when I heard a Chabrol interview on the radio.He was savoring Foie Gras on toast while talking about his new movie.He did not mention Richard Fleischer although in an American interview (reproduced by Jdcopp) he said he knew and he liked the movie:but he certainly thought that the French audience was not learned enough to know the American director or maybe he wanted to avoid any comparison.For that matter,he was right.
Chabrol has been making movies for years ,and I have probably seen more of his works than any other French director,with the exception of Julien Duvivier.To think that around 1970,he was my favorite FRench director;at the time ,his actors were the Creme De LA Creme :Michel Bouquet,Stephane Audran,Jean Yanne,Michel Piccoli...Not that FRançois Berléand is a bad actor:he's simply not handsome enough to portray this greybeard -whereas James Mason...- :it takes a lot of imagination to believe that Ludivine Seignier is crazy about him.I have never liked Benoit Magimel who anyway is miscast as a playboy (Farley Granger he is absolutely not).It's supporting actress Caroline Sihol who saves the end of the movie with her terrifying portrayal of an over possessive mother who tells the heroine she is not one of them ,that is to say one of the bourgeoisie ,Chabrol's favorite target: this is the only Chabrolesque touch ,which reminds me of "La Rupture" (1970) in which Stephane Audran was an intruder too .
As for the two final scenes (Chabrol's and Fleischer's),Joan Collins swinging to the moon is much more memorable than Chabrol's equivalent ,which also steals the "show " idea from the 1955 work.
To make the heroine a weather girl is not a good idea either ,for ,in France ,these persons are often looked upon as "stars" , whereas Fleischer's babe was a music hall dancer,not an honorable job at the time .
Chabrol's passion for gastronomy which shows in ALL his movies is here more present than ever.They do not stop eating or drinking champagne except when they make love,drive or kill.And even....