AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Jay Raskin I have to come out in the middle on this one. It is not as great and brilliant as some say. On the other side, it is not as boring and cold as other people say.Yes, it is very much a two character stage play. There are however, a number of camera and editing tricks that keep the viewer off-balance. The switching from black and white to color, for example, is startling and effective.The acting isn't really movie acting, it is stage acting. One could justify it to an extent in that the main characters are wealthy and highly mannered in their speech and action. However, this carries over into the servants who display a bland seriousness in all their actions as well. On the whole, the stylized acting is a draw back to the audience's character involvement, while adding to the alienating atmosphere.See it when you are in a somber mood and your close relationships are not working out. You'll feel better knowing that there have been couples worse off than you.On the positive side, there are a few tense and gripping moments in the film that suddenly pop out. The scene where the man finds the letter from his wife is one of those scenes. It is not exactly unforgettable, but it is quite effective and gripping.At times, the movie seems like the Cliff Notes for "Scenes From a Marriage" Still, for all its faults there is a clear prospective on marriage in a certain near high society social class. The film gets some credit for showing that it is not particularly pretty when you look closely at it. It deserves credit for its sincerity and honesty.

Jeremiah Cornelius As well as being a huge Huppert fan, I'm also a keen Conrad reader. This version of The Return is probably the best ever adaptation of a Conrad story. Some of it is almost line by line from Conrad's descriptions. An incredibly sensitive interpretation and a great film in its own right. Bravo! This woman is perhaps the greatest actress of the day, both on stage and screen and Gabrielle is one of her best roles. She is able to bring a sense of fragility and strength to her best parts, as in La Vie Promise, for instance. Emma Bovary could not have been a better part for her, either. I have watched Gabrielle probably as many times as I have read The Return and it is a wonderful tribute to the talent of all involved.

paulawilder Obviously we don't all like the same things. One commentator said it was all just talk, as if that were a bad thing. I happen to love language and words, and in particular love the French language. So that is the reason I rent a movie in French. I also have a very strong aversion to "action movies" where language is reduced to "Ow! Help! Duck!" On the other hand, movies like Gabrielle where minute movements of the psyche are explored in depth by minimalistic means, these are what grip me, move me, keep me interested. I do not really think the movie is like an opera -- it was more like a french play -- the delivery and velocity of the spoken word was very much in the style of french live theater.My only caveat is that French-ness and Conrad seem a strange mix to me. There was another French movie that was made on a Conrad text, and I had a similar reaction. Conrad is not writing about French society. And yet the action has been transplanted to France. And it seems an entirely incongruous transplant to me -- plopping the joyless uprightness of puritanical England (the only place name mentioned is "West End Station" into a such a lively Latin culture which has always had a much more relaxed attitude towards love and sex... well,to me it's just incongruous.Nevertheless, it was an cleverly crafted movie, and the musical score by Fabio Vacchi was unearthly beautiful.

R. Nauta (rudymovie) What can one add, after the foregoing comments, ranging from " zero" (Belgium) to " 8 " from some other country. All aspects have already been touched upon, so I will give some other, personal observations. 1. this is a (great) psycho-thriller in the tradition of that Master of theatrical cinema, my hero of the 1970s, Luchino Visconti (like, Innocente, Gattoparde). even the setting was very Viscontesque. But the scenario has weird twists, and an absurd ending. Which made it " a drag" for me in the end. 2. Towards the end of the story, as the woman offers herself to re-find her husband at last (?) and we viewers get to see a glimpse of Isabelle Hupperts pubic hair, not seen since her nude photos in the french playboy Lui, 1981, it is then that we realize that Sexual Frustration is the main theme of the film. So typical in that era. 3. The setting and context are excellent. Far from a " costume drama", the in-house day-to-day scenes are tremendous. Nothing to ridicule about, that 's the way it was . 4.People lacking historical knowledge, as some of the comments indicate, should remember that the upper classes in the western world had this lot of servants in the late 1800s...indeed. 5. I liked the film, but went to it only as a fan of Huppert. Any other actress, I would have " skipped". The payment was great. My appetite for close-ups of her psycho-tormented , and aging !!, face, was satisfied. What great acting talent, compared to a modern woman -of - low- morale, I saw her act last week in My Mother. 6. Actually , she looks like (the late) my mother.....that s why I adore her in the end. OR??