The Bridesmaid (2004)
"La demoiselle d'honneur" (original title)

A hard-working young man meets and falls in love with his sister's bridesmaid. He soon finds out how disturbed she really is.

Director:

Claude Chabrol

Writers:

Claude Chabrol, Pierre Leccia,

Stars:

Benoît Magimel, Laura Smet, Aurore Clément

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Benoît Magimel	...	Philippe Tardieu
Laura Smet	...	Stéphanie "Senta" Bellange
Aurore Clément	...	Christine
Bernard Le Coq	...	Gérard Courtois
Solène Bouton	...	Sophie Tardieu
Anna Mihalcea	...	Patricia Tardieu
Michel Duchaussoy	...	Le clochard
Suzanne Flon	...	Madame Crespin
Eric Seigne	...	Jacky
Pierre-François Dumeniaud	...	Nadeau
Philippe Duclos	...	Capitaine Dutreix
Thomas Chabrol	...	Lieutenant José Laval
Isolde Barth	...	Rita (as Isild Barth)
Mazen Kiwan	...	Pablo
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chantal Banlier	...	La caissière épicerie

Storyline

A middle class family in Loire, where things seem just a tad off kilter. Philippe dotes on his mother, who has raised his two sisters and him. Gérard, a wealthy man just divorced, is paying attention to her, then drops her. Philippe is actually pleased, and retrieves from Gérard's garden a stone head - of the goddess Flora - that his mother had given Gérard. At the wedding of one of his sisters, Philippe meets Senta, a quirky and moody young woman: they fall quickly in love, despite her odd behaviors and Philippe's general good sense. Senta announces a plan for them to prove their love to each other; it involves poetry, tree planting, and murder. What will Philippe do?

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Plot Keywords:

love | bridesmaid | murder | cell phone | basement | 

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Genres:

Thriller | Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

France Germany Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

17 November 2004 (France)

Also Known As:

The Bridesmaid

Filming Locations:

Bavaria Filmstudios, Geiselgasteig, Grünwald, Bavaria, Germany

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$9,046 (USA) (4 August 2006)

Gross:

$111,143 (USA) (19 January 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alicéléo, Canal Diffusion, France 2 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

French Visa d'exploitation number 107930

User Reviews

Don't waste your time viewing this

It's not clear to me why the vast majority of the users of this web site give this film such a high rating. There wasn't much I could find of substance: The plot is somewhat thin, and not developed as it could have been. Senta presents four conditions for totally committed love, including two that would be rejected by most people. However, the protagonist only deals with one of these. It would have been far more interesting if he had dealt with both. At least there would be some progression of the plot, which eventually could reach its conclusion or unravel (I'm avoiding spoilers here). The character of Senta is not believable, in the sense of being an irresistible force. Her speech is too clipped and with little intonation. Perhaps this is the way of modern French speech. Further, there is little in the way of body language or eye movement to reflect the irresistible force. Or perhaps the protagonist is simply too messed up and seeks solace in whichever live female (not statue) that crosses his path.