Gabrielle 2005

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: Husband and wife, upper-class couple Jean and Gabrielle Hervey, are played, to perfection, by two of France's premier film actors: Pascal Greggory and Isabelle Huppert. Read more

Richard M. Porton, Chicago Reader: This highly stylized portrait of a loveless marriage at the beginning of the 20th century merges a claustrophobic theatricality with dazzlingly cinematic wide-screen compositions (the sumptuous cinematography is by Eric Gautier). Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Greggory is up to that journey, revealing the character in his various colors, and Huppert is at her usual best, subtle, emotionally full, focused and honest. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Explosive and intense, melancholy yet sometimes mordantly funny, Gabrielle is the sort of picture that takes no prisoners. And offers no definitive answers. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: One of the film's savage ironies is that his wife's inevitable betrayal strikes less at his heart than at his all-consuming sense of order. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Scenes from a Marriage was twice as devastating with none of the stylistic folderol. Read more

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times: Isabelle Huppert and Pascal Greggory are superb as a couple of immense wealth and social prestige in the Belle Epoque Paris of 1912 -- but then everything about this film is superb. Read more

Michael Booth, Denver Post: Chereau matches Conrad's insistence on psychological accuracy, burrowing through the protective layers of self-delusion that hold so many human relationships together. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Greggory anchors Gabrielle in manly bewilderment and rage, while Huppert claws the title character's way to self-awareness. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: Although it is possible that French actress Isabelle Huppert makes the occasional false move, she does not make them in front of a camera. Read more

Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly: I couldn't stop watching, but came away spiritually drained. Read more

Gene Seymour, Newsday: As a couple, Jean and Gabrielle are a corseted waking nightmare. As co-stars, [Isabelle] Huppert and [Pascal] Greggory make a dream match. Read more

Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger: Spending 90 stuffy minutes with the bitter husband and wife is tough, despite the quality of the performances. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Chereau keeps us locked inside their suffocatingly unhappy home, making for an intensely theatrical chamber piece. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: A formally inventive version of the literary classic. Read more

Toronto Star: Read more

Dave Calhoun, Time Out: This is a careful and cinematic adaptation that rings with painful truth. Read more

Dennis Lim, Village Voice: At once robust and ethereal, this is an existential ghost story, with fresh blood pulsing through its veins. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: For the most part, [Chereau] lets Huppert and Greggory provide the emotional impact. They respond accordingly, imbuing their mutual suffering with an exacting and moving finesse. Read more