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| GIrl on the Bridge |
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  (8/10)
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Runtime: 90 m |
| Public Rating: 9.75 (4 votes) |
Director: Patrice Leconte |
MPAA Rating:  |
| Genre: Foreign/Romance |
Year: 2000 |
| Writer(s): Serge Frydman |
| Reviewed by: Goatdog |
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Gabor, played by Daniel Auteuil, is a knife thrower. He's in his 40s, black hair graying a bit around the temples. He complains that "After 40, the knife throwing becomes erratic." He's down on his luck, and he hangs around bridges, looking for desperate women who are willing to put their lives at risk and be his targets.
One such woman is Adele, played by singer/actress Vanessa Paradis, who has decided that her lifelong string of bad luck should come to an end. She is a sex addict, but she is only attracted to men who are bad for her. They use her, then discard her, and she's already smiling at the next attractive man who comes to comfort her. She is going to jump off the bridge when Gabor makes her an offer. Be his target, and the inherent danger of knife-throwing, in addition to his fading skill, might lead to the death she is considering as she totters over the Seine. She thinks he just wants sex, but he says he never sleeps with his targets. She decides to jump anyway, and he jumps in to save her.
The pair quickly fall in love, but neither can or will admit it. She still sleeps with anyone who comes around, and he berates her for not giving herself enough credit. She complains that she has terrible luck; he proves her wrong by making her play roulette. She wins a bunch of money, which is good because he's too broke to pay the hotel bill, and they prepare for her first time as a target.
He's really very good. He throws at her blindfolded. He throws at her behind a sheet. He straps her to a wheel and throws at her. They go on a cruise ship where the rocking of the boat adds a little danger. Each time is nearly perfect, with her receiving one small scratch on the arm or leg which develops into a ritual of sorts when he explains why he missed as he tapes on a small band-aid. The knife-throwing quickly turns into a substitute for sex, accentuated a little too much by Adele's passionate moans as each knife strikes home, and the increasing fervor with which Gabor grabs the knives.
Their bond develops as the film takes a turn off the straight path. The impossible coincidences abound. They are able to have conversations over great distances. Together, their luck is perfect, but he knows she will eventually leave. When that day comes, both of their lives take a downward turn, their luck running out. He ends up wearing a sandwich board selling tickets to peep shows. She goes from bad relationship to bad relationship. The message is simple: the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence, but it never really is.
This simple, clichéd message is really only the clothesline on which the plot is hung. It is an excuse to put the characters in wacky situations as the film examines how their relationship develops. The entire film hinges on the performances: if they were bad, or not convincing, the entire film would fall apart because we wouldn't accept the coincidences that hold the plot together. Lecomte knew this, and he picked two performers who could pull it off, dragging us into their quirky world, completely accepting.
Auteuil is a well-know French performer. I know him mostly from 1994's wonderful Queen Margot, where he played the doomed King Henri of Navarre. Strangely enough, the roles are quite similar. He is a not-terribly-attractive man who uses self-deprecating wit and muted emotions to get by, but these cover deep wounds that are only betrayed in passing moments and meaningful expressions. He is the veteran of over 50 films, and is possibly the most respected French actor today behind Gerard Depardieu, with whom he bears a strange similarity. This film got his his fifth nomination and second win for France's Cesar Award, the French equivalent of the Oscars.
Paradis is more well-known in France as a singer. She was nominated for the Cesar for her first starring role in 1990, but then spent the next few years doing music. She has an easy smile (with some interesting teeth) and a poise that carried her through some of the more undignified moments of this film.
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