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 | female nudity | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

France Luxembourg Germany Belgium Switzerland UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 June 2013 (France)

Also Known As:

Apagorevmenos erotas

Filming Locations:

Geneva, Canton de Genève, Switzerland

Box Office

Budget:

€10,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

TNVO,Delux Productions,BDS

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

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: I am the master of my destiny.

User Reviews

For people with a larger scope of intellectual vision

Anyone writing a bad review for this movie is either fenced in by there own misconceptions of the intricacies of human behavior, only reach as far as their own eyes will take them and do not have the ability to understand the story behind the actual novel itself which is complex, intense and utterly revealing of twisted emotions that day to day minds wouldn't stretch to, or would blindly chose to avoid thinking about.

This film got 100% less acknowledgment than it deserved, perhaps because people are more interested in shallow, fast-paced movies that keep them occupied for a couple of hours without having to delve into anything with depth because it uses too much brainpower and 'scares' them.

Look beyond what you know, expand your mind, thats what a film is meant to do.