Belle du Seigneur (2012)

English-language adaptation of Albert Cohen's epic Swiss tale of a tortured love affair between a high-ranking Jewish official and the protestant wife of one of his employees.

Director:

Glenio Bonder

Writers:

Albert Cohen (novel), Glenio Bonder (screenplay) (co-writer)

Stars:

Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Natalia Vodianova, Ed Stoppard

Cast

Credited cast:
Jonathan Rhys Meyers	...	Solal
Natalia Vodianova	...	Ariane
Ed Stoppard	...	Adrien / Husband
Marianne Faithfull	...	Mariette
Maria Bonnevie	...	Isolde
Janine Horsburgh	...	Mrs. Deume
Leslie Woodhall	...	Mr. Deume
Jimmy de Brabant	...	Sir John
Stefan Weinert	...	Van Vries
Gilbert Johnston	...	Huxley
Claire Johnston	...	Huxley's wife
André Arend van de Noord	...	Dietsch (as Andre van Noord)
Paulo dos Santos	...	Peruvian delegate
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Casimiro Fernandes	...	Party guest
Alex Freeman	...	Danish Delegate

Storyline

In Geneva in the 1930s; Solal and Ariane meets at a party. Their lives differ as day and night. Ariane is a young married aristocrate from a Protestant family from Geneva. Solal is a Jewish diplomat who rises from nothing to the second highest position in the League of Nations on the eve of the Second World War. Ariane is none other than the wife of his subordinate, Adrien. But they are carried away by their fervent love and must not only undergo the hostility of the rest of the world but also deal with their own problems. Solal is plagued by obsessive love and Ariane is swept away by a passionate and physical love. And Solal hides a dark part of his personality. But their love is based on fundamental understanding. He loves the thought of Ariane, she loves the reality of Solal.

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Plot Keywords:

love triangle | infidelity | cheating wife | 1930s | husband wife relationship | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The riding-on-the-beach sequence has anachronisms: the riding-clothes are modern-day in style and look ''off-the-peg": the '30s breeches should have been flared,for a start,and the blazer-style riding-jackets look too modern.Even the classy Friesian horses, supposedly being hired hacks brought to the hotel for the lovers' canter by the sea, don't fit a period setting. Maybe the producers couldn't afford the extra costs of getting the period-detail right: a pity.

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Goofs

Solal and Ariane attend a concert in Italy in 1937, at which Charles Ives' "The Unanswered Question" (which is also heard throughout the film's soundtrack) is performed. This work was not performed until 1946, in the USA.

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Quotes

[from trailer]
Solal: This organization has failed once again.

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Connections

Referenced in Evening Urgant: Ivan Okhlobystin/Jonathan Rhys Meyers/Leningrad (2012)

User Reviews

No plot, no point to this movie, no spoilers, no spoilers possible

There's no point to this movie.

Terribly thin plot, with barely anything remembering.

I don't want to spoil anything, but what is there to spoil? Watch the trailer. That's the film.

The characters have something closer to a backstory than a story arc. The events are closer to anecdotes than plot points.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays another version of Henry Tudor. Vodianova plays a pretty girl. They have an affair. That's the film right there.

Not a spoiler: either the affair ends or the film ends before it does. There's only two possible outcomes. One of these two is the ending. Probably.

There you go. That's about it.

Details

Country:

France Luxembourg Germany Belgium Switzerland UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 June 2013 (France)

Also Known As:

Apagorevmenos erotas

Filming Locations:

Promenthoux, Switzerland

Box Office

Budget:

EUR10,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$408,909

Company Credits

Production Co:

TNVO, Delux Productions, BDS

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1