Ne touchez pas la hache (2007)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Jacques Rivette

Writers:

Honoré de Balzac (novel) and
Pascal Bonitzer (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

28 March 2007 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Music | Romance

Plot:

In Majorca, in 1823, a French general, Armand de Montriveau, overhears a cloistered nun singing in a chapel; he insists on speaking to her...

Plot Keywords:

Nun | Letter | General | Kidnapping | Ball

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Jeanne Balibar	...	Antoinette de Langeais
Guillaume Depardieu	...	Armand de Montriveau
Bulle Ogier	...	Princesse de Blamont-Chauvry
Michel Piccoli	...	Vidame de Pamiers
Anne Cantineau	...	Clara de Sérizy
Marc Barbé	...	Marquis de Ronquerolles
Thomas Durand	...	De Marsay
Nicolas Bouchaud	...	De Trailles
Mathias Jung	...	Julien
Julie Judd	...	Lisette
Victoria Zinny	...	La mère supérieure
Remo Girone	...	Le confesseur au couvent
Beppe Chierici	...	L'alcade
Paul Chevillard	...	Duc de Navarreins
Barbet Schroeder	...	Duc de Grandlieu
Birgit Ludwig	...	Diane de Maufrigneuse
Denis Freyd	...	Abbé Gondrand
Claude Delaugerre	...	Auguste
Laurent Battist	...	Passer-by
Evelyne Byot	...	Passer-by
Emmanuel de Chauvigny	...	Passer-by (as Manu de Chauvigny)
Christian Lambert	...	Passer-by
Hélène Liber	...	Passer-by
Marc Mameaux	...	Passer-by
Bruno Mary	...	Passer-by
Lionel Mur	...	Passer-by

Directed by
Jacques Rivette

Writing credits
Honoré de Balzac		(novel "La duchesse de Langeais")
Pascal Bonitzer		writer
Christine Laurent		writer
Jacques Rivette		writer

Produced by
Roberto Cicutto	....	producer
Martine Marignac	....	producer
Luigi Musini	....	producer
Ermanno Olmi	....	producer
Maurice Tinchant	....	producer

Original Music by
Pierre Allio

Cinematography by
William Lubtchansky

Film Editing by
Nicole Lubtchansky

Production Design by
Emmanuel de Chauvigny

Costume Design by
Maira Ramedhan Lévy

Makeup Department
Evelyne Byot	....	key makeup artist
Dianne Jamieson	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Claire Burnoud	....	assistant production manager
Sébastien Didelot	....	assistant unit manager
Christian Lambert	....	production manager
Anne-Claire Loridant	....	assistant unit manager
Susanna Lo	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Shirel Amitay	....	first assistant director
Denis Kralj	....	second assistant director
Marc Mameaux	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Carine Demongueres	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Pascal Despres	....	boom operator
Florian Eidenbenz	....	sound recordist
Bernard Le Roux	....	sound mixer
Dominique Vieillard	....	sound editor

Camera and Electrical Department
André Atellian	....	grip
Nicolas Blampain	....	electrician
Jim Howe	....	electrician
Jim Howe	....	gaffer
Moune Jamet	....	still photographer
Irina Lubtchansky	....	assistant camera
Raphael Van Sitteren	....	electrician

Editorial Department
Catherine Aladenise	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Lydia Bigard	....	script supervisor
Florence Gatineau-Saillant	....	location scout
Bosco Justine	....	press assistant
Mauro Monachini	....	accountant: Italy
Piernicola Pinnola	....	production secretary
David Thooris	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Pierre Grise Productions
• Cinemaundici (co-production)
• arte France Cinéma (co-production)
• Canal+ (participation)
• CinéCinéma (participation)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (participation)
• Programme MEDIA de la Communauté Européenne (participation)
• Procirep (participation)
• Région Ile-de-France (participation)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (in partnership with)

Distributors

• Artificial Eye (2007) (UK) (theatrical)
• Cetera International (2008) (Japan) (theatrical)
• IFC Films (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• IFC Films (2008) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Les Films du Losange (2007) (France) (theatrical)
• Národní Filmový Archiv (NFA) (2008) (Czech Republic) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Odeon (2008) (Greece) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Cinécam  camera equipment provided by
• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Transpalux  lighting

Also Known As:

The Duchess of Langeais (Canada: English title) (USA) (new title)
Don't Touch the Axe (International: English title)
La duchessa di Langeais (Italy)

Runtime:

137 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Canada:14A | USA:Unrated | France:U | Argentina:13

Company:

Pierre Grise Productions

Trivia:

The film keeps the original title of Balzac's novel from March 1834.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Armand is reading the final letter of the Duchess, a wall socket is visible.

Movie Connections:

Version of La duchesse de Langeais (1995) (TV)

A Very Slow Evening

Honoré De Balzac's novel 'La Duchesse Du Langeais' has been transformed by screenwriter Pascal Bonitzer for the screen as 'Ne Touchez Pas a la Hache' and the result is a mixture of proscenium stage pictures, and scenes separated by written dialog that merely lets the viewer know such unnecessary details such as that fact that time has passed, and well over two hours of an uninvolved courtship between a sensualist and a coquette. While it is a pleasure to remember the times of Balzac and his way with lusty themes, watching this film version can be tedious - at best.

Fans of director Jacques Rivette will find much to enjoy in this adaptation: the pacing of the film feels important to his concept of the development of the story - the stifling boredom of the evenings of balls in Paris and the isolation of the soldiers' lives, deprived of the companionship of lovely ladies. He has cast Jeanne Balibar as the title character Antoinette De Langeais , a married lady of means with a penchant for flirting and coquettish behavior with important men, and Guillaume Depardieu as General Armand De Montriveau, a war hero who lost his leg and returns to Paris vulnerable for love, namely in the instant attraction to Antoinette. The tale is one of a game of the General's passionate love and the duchess' toying with his advances until a climax is reached which changes the approach of each character with rather disastrous consequences for both.

As a period piece the film works well: the costumes and settings are splendid and the scenes in the endless ballrooms are full of grace and lovely music. But the flow of the encounters between Antoinette and Armand are an interminable series of momentary repetitious encounters with a sound track that seems bent on capturing the opening and closing of doors and the loud pacing of the crippled general as he enters and leaves the naughty lady's chamber. There is little to draw us into caring for the characters and after the first hour and a half of the film the courtship begs our indulgence. In French with English subtitles. Definitely recommended for fans of Jacques Rivette's films or Balzac's stories, but a 'long song' for casual viewers. Grady Harp