Film review: Girl cut in two

Published on 21/05/2009 19:22

GIRL CUT IN TWO **** DIRECTED BY: CLAUDE CHABROL STARRING: LUDIVINE SAGNIER, FRANÇOIS BERLÉAND, BENOÎT MAGIMEL

CLAUDE Chabrol returns with his most satisfying film for years: a pitch-black fusion of dark comedy, icy melodrama and satirical sideswipes at the class system, held together with an absorbing lead performance by Ludivine Sagnier. She plays Gabrielle Deneige, a TV weather girl torn between two wealthy men who hate each other, but share some common ground in the way they toy with Gabrielle's emotions. For ageing sophisticate Charles Saint-Denis (Franois Berland), Gabrielle is little more than a sexual plaything. That irks Paul Gaudens (Benot Magimel), the playboy whose fascination with Gabrielle borders on pathological, but whose persistence gradually wears her down. Chabrol takes his time showing just how unsuitable each man is, gradually building up a complex portrait of three individuals whose interaction proves oddly gripping.