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Isabelle Huppert, Pascal Greggory, Raina Kabaivanska, Claudia Coli, Chantal Neuwirth ... see more see more... , Thierry Fortineau , Louise Vincent , Clement Hervieu-Leger , Nicolas Moreau , Rinaldo Rocco , Xavier Lafitte , Mai David , Jeanne Henry , Aude Léger , Thierry Hancisse

A seemingly ideal marriage is thrown into embarrassing turmoil in Patrice Chéreau's period drama, Gabrielle. Based on the short story The Return by Joseph Conrad, the film opens with Jean (Pascal Greg... read more read more...gory) extolling the virtues of his pretty wife, Gabrielle (Isabelle Huppert), in voice-over as he makes his way home from work. Jean and his wife, with help from their team of servants, have fostered the illusion of a perfect bourgeois household. Jean is particularly happy with the way Gabrielle presents herself at the couple's frequent dinner gatherings, attended by their "set," whom, as he describes them, "fear emotion and failure more than war." We see glimpses of these occasions in flashback, while Jean explains of his wife, "I'm proud of what she is -- impassive." The secure little world he's fashioned for himself is shattered when he arrives home and finds a note from Gabrielle, explaining that she's leaving him. "It's terrible, and right," the missive states. After a brief explosion of rage, Jean tries to compose himself, but he's thrown into chaos again when Gabrielle unexpectedly returns home. She finds it impossible to speak to Jean. "This letter is not the worst of it?" he asks her. "The worst is my coming back," she explains. The two struggle bitterly to regain the balance in their relationship. Soon, in the interest of appearances, another dinner party is planned. Gabrielle, switches from black-and-white to color and back from scene to scene, and is also notable for its intriguing use of intertitles. It was adapted by Chéreau and his frequent collaborator, Anne-Louise Trividic, and was shown at the 2005 New York Film Festival, presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

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32% liked it

16,493 ratings

Critics

75% liked it

53 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 30 min.

Directed by: Chantal Neuwirth, Isabelle Huppert, Pascal Greggory, Raina Kabaivanska, Patrice Chéreau

Release Date: October 7, 2005

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DVD Release Date: December 19, 2006

Stats: 251 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (251)

  • gator681
    August 13, 2006
    gator681
    [font=Century Gothic]In "Gabrielle", Jean(Pascal Greggory) is a wealthy businessman who has been married to Gabrielle(Isabelle Huppert) for the past ten years. Together they host a literary salon every Thursday, that is much respected. One Wednesday, soon after returning home fro... read morem work, Jean reads a note from his wife, informing him that she has left him for another man.[/font]

    [font=Century Gothic]But Gabrielle soon returns. And everybody lives happily ever after, right?[/font]


    [font=Century Gothic]With "Gabrielle", director Patrice Chereau pulls out all the stops in telling this devastatingly powerful tale of marriage which is based on "The Return" by Joseph Conrad. In the brief time we spend with Gabrielle and Jean, we get a very good idea of what their marriage is like...and it isn't pretty, starting with Jean considering Gabrielle little more than a possession and a key to the perfect life he imagines for himself. But how does she feel about the situation? Isabelle Huppert gives another great, fearless performance and Pascal Greggory keeps pace with her. [/font]
  • wbgoose13
    January 12, 2007
    wbgoose13
    Collapsing marriage melodrama is too talky to enjoy.
  • threepunchstuff
    May 19, 2007
    threepunchstuff
    Like Hiro Nakamura, the creators of this film can bend space-time. How else to explain their ability to make 90 minutes feel like 90,000 years.

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Critic Reviews

Terry Lawson
November 17, 2006
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press

Although it is possible that French actress Isabelle Huppert makes the occasional false move, she does not make them in front of a camera. Full Review

Desson Thomson
September 28, 2006
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

For the most part, [Chereau] lets Huppert and Greggory provide the emotional impact. They respond accordingly, imbuing their mutual suffering with an exacting and moving finesse. Full Review

Michael Booth
September 15, 2006
Michael Booth, Denver Post

Chereau matches Conrad's insistence on psychological accuracy, burrowing through the protective layers of self-delusion that hold so many human relationships together. Full Review

Michael Wilmington
September 7, 2006
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

Husband and wife, upper-class couple Jean and Gabrielle Hervey, are played, to perfection, by two of France's premier film actors: Pascal Greggory and Isabelle Huppert. Full Review

Mick LaSalle
August 25, 2006
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Greggory is up to that journey, revealing the character in his various colors, and Huppert is at her usual best, subtle, emotionally full, focused and honest. Full Review

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
August 24, 2006
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Explosive and intense, melancholy yet sometimes mordantly funny, Gabrielle is the sort of picture that takes no prisoners. And offers no definitive answers. Full Review

Kevin Thomas
August 3, 2006
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

Isabelle Huppert and Pascal Greggory are superb as a couple of immense wealth and social prestige in the Belle Epoque Paris of 1912 -- but then everything about this film is superb. Full Review

Ty Burr
July 28, 2006
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

Scenes from a Marriage was twice as devastating with none of the stylistic folderol. Full Review

Andrew Sarris
July 27, 2006
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

Mr. Chéreau and his collaborators have fashioned a visual masterpiece full of the most pungent and provocative dialogue.

Lisa Rose
July 17, 2006
Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger

Spending 90 stuffy minutes with the bitter husband and wife is tough, despite the quality of the performances. Full Review

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