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

Deceptive

The film is unfortunately a deceptive adaptation of this great and complicate XXth century love story novel by Albert Cohen. Some women friends of mine commented, it's pretty unconceivable to understand how a male writer could so well understand and describe and write (about) woman's psychology, woman's inside.

I loved the book a lot but not the film, pretty poor. I like Meyers as an actor but here, imho, he looks too young (he was 35 then) as Solal, even if Solal had a vertiginous social climb.

At about 31 minutes into the film, we can see a very nice wood house at the Geneva lake. I knew the (unnice) owners so I went there once or twice. For the ones interested, you can see it in Promenthoux at 46.391986° 6.267007° in Google Maps.

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