24 heures de la vie d'une femme (2002)
Directed by Laurent Bouhnik

Drama / Romance
aka: 24 Hours in the Life of a Woman

Film Review

Abstract picture representing 24 heures de la vie d'une femme (2002)
Laurent Bouhnik's stylish, big budget adaptation of Stefan Zweig's celebrated novel has great strengths, but also some obvious weaknesses.  From a purely technical point of view, the film is impressive - the acting, photography and design are on a par with any quality French film made in recent years.  The film is as visually striking as Bouhnik's previous off-kilter prison drama Zonzon (1998), although somewhat gentler in tone. But as an engaging piece of drama, the film falls way short of its intended mark.  The time-shifting Proustian narrative construction adds little to the central story and, if anything, feels like a consciously arty device to compensate for an unsophisticated plot.  The lack of focus makes it hard to engage with any of the characters - there are in effect three stories being told in parallel and none of them has any real depth or coherence.  Despite these faults, the film does somehow avoid falling into the abyss of pretentious self-indulgence, thanks primarily to some impressive performances from such first rate actors as Agnès Jaoui (the director of the hit comedy Le Goût des autres (2000)) and Bérénice Bejo (Jean Dujardin's co-star in The Artist (2011)).  There are some powerful sequences - notably Marie's first meeting with Anton in the casino - but overall the film lacks focus and dramatic tension, although it is not without charm.
© James Travers 2007
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Laurent Bouhnik film:
L'Invité (2007)

Film Synopsis

As he faces up to his impending death, an elderly man named Louis returns to the Côte d'azur, where he once lived a troubled adolescence.  In a casino, he meets Olivia, an attractive young woman who is full of vitality.  After a sudden bust-up with her boyfriend, Olivia develops a fondness for Louis and stays with him as he recounts a story that was told to him, six decades ago, by a certain Mrs Marie Collins-Brown.  Marie and her sister-in-law are living on the Riviera in the early 1900s when she meets a young Polish man named Anton, a compulsive gambler.  A widow in her thirties, Marie is so moved by Anton's fatal addiction that she is prepared to do anything she can to cure him of his love of gambling.  Twenty years on, Marie recalls this sad story to Louis, an adolescent who has turned against his mother after she left him to go off with her lover...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.


Film Credits

  • Director: Laurent Bouhnik
  • Script: Laurent Bouhnik, Gilles Taurand, Stefan Zweig (novel)
  • Cinematographer: Gilles Henry
  • Music: Michael Nyman
  • Cast: Agnès Jaoui (Marie Collins Brown), Michel Serrault (Louis), Bérénice Bejo (Olivia), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Anton), Clément van den Bergh (Louis jeune), Frances Barber (Betty), Bruno Slagmulder (Hervé), Jean-Claude Lamy (Directeur casino), Pascal Greggory (Joueur casino), Valérie Dréville (Henriette), Serge Riaboukine (Maurice), Édith Le Merdy (Femme médecin), Philippe Sturbelle (Médecin belge), Chloé Lambert (Pensionnaire), François Caron (Pensionnaire blond), Anette Burgdorf (Mme Gruber), Christian Schneller (M. Gruber), Jean-François Gallotte (Le taxi), Michel Gondoin (Videur boîte), Stéphanie Murat (Femme de service)
  • Country: France / Germany / UK
  • Language: French
  • Support: Color
  • Runtime: 107 min
  • Aka: 24 Hours in the Life of a Woman

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