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Sylvie Testud, Pierre Palmade, Lionel Abelanski, Jeanne Balibar, Denis Podalydès

Acclaimed filmmaker Diane Kurys pays homage to another French woman of the arts in this screen biography of internationally celebrated writer Francoise Sagan. As the film opens, it's 1954 and Sagan (p... read more read more...layed by Sylvie Testud), still in her teens, has become a literary celebrity overnight with the success of her first novel Bonjour Tristesse. Sagan is enjoying the high life with her close friends Jacques (Pierre Palmade) and Bernard (Lionel Abelanski), while spending her royalties on liquor, sports cars, partying and evenings at the casino. Sagan, a bisexual, enjoyed short-lived romances with lovers of both genders but in the Sixties she made an effort to settle down, marrying American expatriate Robert Westhoff (William Miller). While the two had a child, Westhoff's frequent homosexual affairs damaged their relationship beyond repair, and her longest-lasting romantic partnership was with Peggy (Jeanne Balibar), an editor at a fashion magazine. While Sagan continued to write, her appetite for alcohol and cocaine grew dramatically, and as her addiction became stronger, her literary output shrank and after years of failing to pay her taxes, she became dependent on the generosity of friends to survive and became a stranger to her only child. Sagan was originally produced as a mini-series for French television, but was re-edited to feature length and released to theaters in Europe in the Spring of 2008. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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62% liked it

1,974 ratings

Critics

0% liked it

11 critics

Unrated, 3 hr.

Directed by: Diane Kurys

Release Date: August 11, 2008

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Flixster Reviews (150)

  • gator681
    December 3, 2010
    gator681
    "Sagan" is an anecdotal and breezy biopic about Francoise Sagan(Sylvie Testud), nee Quoirez, the famed French writer, whose best scene involves a very mischievous dog. Almost as a lark, she writes "Bonjour Tristesse" which turns her into an overnight success and is soon to be a m... read moreajor motion picture starring David Niven, Deborah Kerr and Jean Seberg. I would have liked to have seen a little about this adaptation, as it would have enhanced the surrealism of Sagan's whirlwind life. All is not smooth sailing, however, as she is attacked by critics, who doubt that she in fact wrote her first novel and then her later work as 'minor music.' Otherwise, there is not that much on her writing, giving the emphasis of the movie over to her tumultuous personal life. If she had not spent so much time enjoying herself with her extended family of friends and lovers of both genders, then this could have easily just been another cautionary tale about becoming a success too soon.(She took up an assumed name to write, so her respectable family would not be afraid people thought she was writing about them.) With her first earnings, she buys a sports car, which she eventually crashes. After a win at the roulette wheel, she buys a country estate where Sarah Bernhardt once spent the night. So, it must come as something of a shock when she makes it to old age, despite the copious use of drugs and alcohol(the welcome playing of "One Night in Bangkok" is entirely appropriate), which she never prepared for, encapsulating the very ephemeral nature of life, just as her writing still lives on.

    (Originally reviewed in the blog section on 6/22/2010.)
  • Leilanilani
    December 13, 2009
    Leilanilani
    Language was big problem to me.(French) This movie was showing one of bad case of woman's life. I hope to spend good life with my special people. If you have children, check this movie. Probably your tear never dry.

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Critic Reviews

Simon Miraudo
March 21, 2011
Simon Miraudo, Quickflix

[The film] traps Françoise in a film so bland you would think it was depicting the lives of Isaac Funk and Adam Wagnalls and their attempts to publish a cheap, yet informative, encyclopedia. Full Review

Julie Rigg
October 8, 2010
Julie Rigg, MovieTime, ABC Radio National

This biopic, from respected film maker Diane Kurys gives Sylvie Testud a chance to channel this witty, amusing woman and let us think about her life. But it bustles along so fast my sympathy was only ... Full Review

Jim Mitchell
October 8, 2010
Jim Mitchell, Trespass

If Sagan is an underappreciated literary icon as the filmmakers imply, they've failed to restore her memory any glory with this underwhelming, uninspiring portrait. Full Review

Craig Mathieson
October 7, 2010
Craig Mathieson, sbs.com.au

To reference the other Sagan, this movie is something of a black hole. Then again, it wasn't conceived as a movie. Full Review

Jake Wilson
October 7, 2010
Jake Wilson, The Age (Australia)

Edited down from its original incarnation as a two-part TV mini-series, the film in memory becomes a series of scenes with Sagan staggering about dropping drunken bons mots. Nothing can redeem this la... Full Review

Margaret Pomeranz
October 6, 2010
Margaret Pomeranz, At the Movies (Australia)

Sagan's fascinating life has been presented in a rather mundane fashion by Diane Kurys; it's chronologically plodding with a wall-papering of Sagan's writings on life and love in voice-over. Full Review

Sandra Hall
October 6, 2010
Sandra Hall, Sydney Morning Herald

What really damns it as literary biography is that it gives you little incentive to go back to her books. Full Review

Alice Tynan
October 5, 2010
Alice Tynan, Concrete Playground

It is with a sense of mere interested detachment that you learn about Sagan?s lovelorn, reckless existence. Full Review

Ben McEachen
October 4, 2010
Ben McEachen, Empire Magazine Australasia

Glum, grey portrait of an unhappy life. Full Review

Andrew L. Urban
September 30, 2010
Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile

The problem with this film is that it tries to puddle-jump her life in a series of many chapters that, ironically, combine to deliver an incomplete picture of the person Full Review

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