A Girl Cut in Two (Claude Chabrol, 2008)

[Jeff]

Unsubtitled trailer for Claude Chabrol's new thriller starring the delectable Ludivine Sagnier.

No U.S. distributor yet.

[domino harvey]

gotta love Chabrol, can't wait! Great title. =D>

[Jeff]

IFC picked up the U.S. rights and is releasing it in NY this month. Our own justeleblanc has the American trailer and poster on his blog. Looks great.

[mfunk9786]

This looks great. Sagnier is wonderful.

And in answer to justeleblanc's question on his blog about 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days... [EDIT: Discussion of 4 Months... has been moved over here. -- Jeff]

[a.khan]

Saw this several months ago. Sagnier and Berléand and Magimel play people stuck in a peverted love triangle. It's classic Chabrol: savage, erotic and delirious! His best effort since "La Cérémonie."

[sevenarts]

My review

[domino harvey]

Wait, this is out?

[tavernier]

It's been playing in Manhattan for weeks.

[pianocrash]

IFC On Demand has had it for a few weeks now it seems, so there goes my Friday plans yet again!

[Jeff]

IFC On Demand has had it for a few weeks now it seems

And if, like me, you must see Ludivine on as large of screen as possible, it is getting a fairly wide theatrical release (at least for "French film released by IFC" standards).

[domino harvey]

God, when was the last time a Chabrol film got anything approaching this quasi-wide of a release, Blood Relatives?

[pianocrash]

And if, like me, you must see Ludivine on as large of screen as possible, it is getting a fairly wide theatrical release (at least for "French film released by IFC" standards).

After seeing another IFC import today at my local theater (where the popularity of both Ne le dis a personne and Roman de gare is unprecedented, at least for the midwest, and particularly for Canet's film, which has entered its third month of being held over!?!), I was greeted with that pink poster with Ludie in the lobby. And even though my burg isn't on the official list, I will resist the temptation for additional monthly surcharges and wait it out - you all can just be so convincing!

[LQ]

Saw this last night, and it was fantastique, of course. And what better to jazz me up pre-show than the trailer for Vivre Sa Vie??Chabrol's morbidly delicious black humor, great performances (I especially got pleasure out of watching over-the-top-fop Benoit Magimel swagger about) a masterful control of the plot development.. Chabrol just keeps doing it The end left me grinning ear to ear...I do think I can safely say this is one of my favorite Chabrol films.

[domino harvey]

So I actually joined Blockbuster just to be able to see this damn movie. Let no one doubt my commitment to Chabrol. My reaction was a bit more subdued than the enthusiastic responses in this thread though. There is of course great satisfaction in watching a Chabrol film unfold, even a minor one, and A Girl Cut In Two was no exception.

Nothing in his other films for Chabrol (La fleur du mal and the Bridesmaid-- easily Chabrol's two best from this decade) prepared me for Benoît Magimel's tremendous comedic performance here. Every once in a while, Chabrol just lets an actor go overboard and sits back to enjoy the chaos. While the resulting film undeniably belongs to Magimel's histrionics, Chabrol constructs just enough around his outlandish performance to not drive the film to a halt when he's not on-screen. But while the wind-up and the pitch are there-- and Chabrol's son does have a fine bit of business in the final act-- the film seems a little bored with itself after a certain violent act (which will remain unspecified here) and never really bothers to right itself, especially in the silly final moments. I will say this about it, though: coming after the amusingly sterile Comedy of Power, A Girl Cut In Two provides a nice exercise in contrast (at least before it devolves into going through the motions).

[kaujot]

One of these days I'll actually get around to seeing a Chabrol film.

[Conchis]

Why does Netflix show this movie as unavailable with an unknown release date? I really want to see it!

[domino harvey]

Why does Netflix show this movie as unavailable with an unknown release date? I really want to see it!

Because it's still a Blockbuster exclusive. Hence why I mentioned I joined Blockbuster. You can do their online Netflix thing free for two weeks

[Conchis]

Why does Netflix show this movie as unavailable with an unknown release date? I really want to see it!

Because it's still a Blockbuster exclusive. Hence why I mentioned I joined Blockbuster. You can do their online Netflix thing free for two weeks

My irrational hatred of Blockbuster will keep me from doing that

[Numero Trois]

Coming to Netflix Instant Watch on June 7.

[domino harvey]

It also just came on on DVD in Canada via Mongrel Media and has been out in the UK for a while

[Matt]

Not much to add here except to say that it's a clever inversion of Louys' La femme et le pantin, which Chabrol takes care to point out. Magimel and his suits are a riot, but I would love to have seen what Philippe Noiret could have done in the role of Charles.

A pleasant way to spend two hours, but nothing tops La fleur du mal in recent Chabrol.

[jsteffe]

What's the story on the Blockbuster DVD of A Girl Cut in Two? One of the comments on Amazon indicates that it's a cut version of the film. Is that true?