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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
beautiful movie from one of the best european directors, 10 Nov 2003
By A Customer
this movie was based on Adèle H (Hugo) diaries. she's madly (in true sense)with lt. Pinson who doesn't share her feelings. when she decides to join him in halifax and faces the fact that he won't ever correspond her love, her obsession will bring her to madness. this, in a few words, is the story. what it's impossible to tell is the beauty of the film (cinematography by Nestor Almendros) and the power of the acting. this film, and the fact that is bound to reality, doesn't allow the viewer to feel detached from what happens on screen. furthermore, the intelligence of the screenplay and the directing never allow the story to fall in cheap melodrama. this is also an occasion to watch Adjani's first international role which brught her an Oscar nomination in 1976.ABOUT THE DVD picture and sound are ok but nothing more. no extras (at least an introduction by Serge Toubiana, as in others Truffaut's DVDs, would have been necessary. Director: François Truffaut Story: Frances Vernor Guille (from Adèle Hugo's diaries) Screenplay: Jean Gruault, Suzanne Schiffman, François Truffaut Music (non original): Maurice Jaubert Cinematography: Nestor Almendros Editing: Martine Barraqué, Yann Dedet Jean Gargonne Michèle Neny, Muriel Zeleny. Actors: Isabelle Adjani, Bruce Robinson, Sylvia Marriott, Joseph Blatchley, Ivry Gitlis, Louise Bourdet e altri
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8 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
love will tear us apart, 13 Jan 2005
Isabelle Adjani, aged 20... mmm... hold that thought. And if that makes you feel glad all over, then this film is for you. It's all about how she, well, Adele, falls madly in love with this stuck-up English dude. And, like, when I say 'madly', I mean madly. It's quite unnerving to see her gradually falling apart. And the English guy, Lieutenant Pinson (played by a 20-something Bruce Robinson) won't budge an inch, fobbing her off time and time again with the old 'not tonight, dear, I've got a headache' routine. At first you think he must be out of his mind - I mean, he's got this drop-dead gorgeous French girl declaring her undying love for him - and she's not short of a penny or two either. (You start to wonder, 'maybe this guy has has issues?') But when you see how completely out of her mind she is, it becomes only too apparent why Pinson is playing hard to get. In fact, you have to feel pretty sorry for him too as he gets hounded to the far ends of the earth by a deluded and obsessed maniac. Money and looks ain't everything, hey.
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
How true is true?, 16 Dec 2007
We are told at the beginning that this is a true story - and sure enough, Victor Hugo did have a daughter called Adele who had an unrequited passion for an English soldier and this is based on her diaries. So far, so true. The problem is it takes place in the late 1860s and we find out at the end that Adele was born in 1830. That means she was in her late 30s when she was pursuing this young officer and not the young fresh-faced, charming, beautiful waif portrayed by Isabelle Adjani. By the standards of her day, a single woman in her late 30s was an old maid, whose best chances of marriage had gone. Lieutenant Pinson's reaction to her - his horror, his embarrasssment ("You're ridiculous!" he says at one point) - is intellegible only if you consider her true age; whereas, any man who turns down the advances of a young Isabelle Adjani must be nuts! So, the film doesn't ring true - Pinson's rejection of her, even after she receives written consent from her parents, is incomprehensible. Everyone else in the movie falls under her enchanting spell, making it all the more strange. Had Truffaut been more honest and cast an older actress, the true story would have been more apparent: Adele would come across as more pathetic, Pinson's rejection more comprehensible. Adjani's performance is very good, but what might it have been if it had been made ten years later?
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