Gabrielle Review

"Gabrielle (2004)" reviews

Movie

Gabrielle (2004)

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2006-11-10 16:00:39

Provider

Review

Jean (Pascal Greggory) has been married to Isabelle Huppert's Gabrielle for 10 years and, consequently, is very pleased with himself. She, after all, is beautiful. The couple are very rich. No matter that sexual intimacy has long disappeared from their marriage: Jean believes that emotion is revolting and is more than happy, therefore, with his cold, moneyed life.

Not so Gabrielle who, having been prepared to pretend that she, too, was content with her lot, unexpectedly embarks on an affair, the consequences of which prove truly devastating. Predictably, their verbal sparring takes on a vicious edge, with neither uncertain of how to persevere. Can they carry on, socially, as they were before, or will Jean, who has never experienced love before, grow jealous of his partner's new-found independence and appear from out of his clinical facade?

Set in Paris at the turn of the 20th century, and adapted from a short story, The Return, by Joseph Conrad, Gabrielle is superbly played, with the comparatively unknown Greggory proving a match for Huppert, one of France's greatest actresses. While she suffers in silence, her face turning pink with embarrassment, he rants and rages, unable to comprehend his predicament.

French period dramas can prove horribly slow-paced and fusty, as if they have scant concern for their audience. Gabrielle, in contrast, is a slow-burning gem in which the intensity of the narrative transcends the fact that it is located in an environment far removed from our own.