La Femme de Gilles
2004 Drama   
Director: Frédéric Fonteyne
Starring: Emmanuelle Devos, Clovis Cornillac, Laura Smet, Colette Emmanuelle, Gil Lagay


 
Summary
In the 1930s, Elisa and Gilles make a perfect couple.  They already have two children and a third is on the way.  Although both lead a hard life – Gilles works at a foundry, Elisa is fully occupied taking care of the family home – they are content.  Then, one day, strange thoughts enter Elisa’s head.  She begins to suspect that Gilles may be having an affair with her younger sister, Victorine...

Credits
  • Director: Frédéric Fonteyne
  • Script: Philippe Blasband, Madeleine Bourdouxhe (novel), Frédéric Fonteyne, Marion Hänsel
  • Photo: Virginie Saint-Martin
  • Music: Vincent D’Hondt
  • Cast: Emmanuelle Devos (Elisa), Clovis Cornillac (Gilles), Laura Smet (Victorine), Colette Emmanuelle (La mère d’Élisa), Gil Lagay (Le père d’Élisa), Frédéric Fonteyne (L’ouvrier ami de Gilles), Philippe Jeusette (L’ouvrier moqueur), Patrick Quinet (Maréchal), Virginie Saint-Martin (Martha)
  • Country: France
  • Language: French
  • Runtime: 103 min
  • Aka: Gilles’ Wife
 

Review
A banal subject is handled with great sensitivity and with a strong sense of the auteur in this engaging little film from director Frédéric Fonteyne, who is perhaps best known for his intimate 1999 drama, Une liaison pornographique.  With its simple yet potently elegiac photography and minimalist use of dialogue, the film takes us into the inner world of a fragile young woman who senses she may be on the verge of losing the love of her husband.  It’s a subtle and austere film, evocative and poignant, with a remarkable, intensely introspective, performance from Emmanuelle Devos.  The film has some faults – the static photography and general sense of inertia does become wearying after a while, and certain sequences are marred by a twee chocolate box feel which undermines the film’s realism – but it is, for all that, a strangely alluring work with a rare poetic character.

© James Travers 2008


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