La Fille coupée en deux

English Title: A Girl Cut in Two
Director: Claude Chabrol
Country: France/Germany

Gabrielle Deneige (translated to Gabrielle Snow, played by the always stunning Ludivine Sagnier) is the titular girl with a crisp clean image. It seems that everybody is spellbound by her, including aging married author Charles Saint-Denis (François Berléand) and arrogant unstable socialite Paul Gaudens (Benoît Magimel). It becomes clear that Gabrielle is smitten with Charles, but his attitude towards their relationship eventually leads her to Paul, whom she does not love, but loves her.

This is a melodrama that touches upon the differences between classes but focuses mainly on the nature of love, and the lengths people go to in order to achieve it. While the acting is solid, and I had no particular complaints about the directing, I really couldn't enjoy this movie too much, though I can't quite put my finger on why this is so. Perhaps it is because the story and the characters are so exaggerated (which is what led me to call it a melodrama in the first place), which not only makes it frustrating at times, but also makes the ending inevitable and unlikeable.

There's a chance that other film goers might like this film - for example, it might be to your liking if you were a Claude Chabrol fan - but I cannot personally recommend it.