Marion Cotillard
Gabrielle
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Drama
Romance
In 1950s France, a free-spirited woman trapped in an arranged marriage falls in love with an injured veteran of the Indochinese War.
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| Release Date | 2016-10-19 |
|---|---|
| Runtime | 2h 0m |
| Directors | Nicole Garcia, Christophe Beaucarne, Sébastien Matuchet |
| Producers | Alain Attal, Xavier Amblard, Tim Martens, Fernando Victoria de Lecea |
| Writers | Milena Agus, Jacques Fieschi, Nicole Garcia |
From an early age, "Gabrielle" (Marion Cotillard) has shown a bit of a rebellious spirit. As a girl, she was determined not to obey her parental wish to marry the local "Jose" (a subtly nuanced effort from Alex Brendemühl) - even though he was quite fond of her, and as a result she lived in the semi-seclusion that befitted an unwed girl in rural France. Her "break" comes in the unlikely form of some kidney stones that necessitates a trip to an Alpine hospital. It's here that she encounters the recovering "André" (Louis Garrel) who has just returned from French Indochina shell-shocked and badly wounded. There's a little of a Wildred Owen poem to this drama, I thought. It shows us the results of the horrors of war, the after effects and trauma, but there's also a degree of hope and optimism as their love story takes shape and maybe, just maybe, there's scope for contentment somewhere. Cotillard is on solid form as the rather self-obsessed and just a bit flaky "Gabrielle" and though Garrel doesn't have so much to do, he still comes across convincingly as a soldier conflicted by a reality and a dream - it's that conclusion that is quite a touching affair, and causes us to have a think about just who "Gabrielle" actually is. The film looks good and is well scored by Daniel Pemberton which all gives a certain lustre to Cotillard's portrayal of a woman I don't think I'd have liked very much.
— CinemaSerf