Exquisite direction, beautiful cinematography and precise performances of all the entire cast cannot prevent this film of being excessively cold. The mood tries to recreate the unexciting existences and fatalist life philosophy of the Brönte sisters, but it makes the film icy and a little dull. However, the worst of all is that you can rarely connect with such cold characters through freezing (but after all deliberate) acting. Nice effort, but failed anyway.
8 Reviews
Wind and Wuthering
dbdumonteil21 August 2010
When the movie was released,it met mixed critical reception.The director seemed more interested in Brother Brontë and the audience was waiting for the sisters ,or should I say the actresses ,Marie -France Pisier (an intellectual thespian) ,Isabelle Huppert ,the rising star and above all ,Adjani the idol of the crowds of the era.
Objections to this costume drama remain:too few of the scenes are really potent,the actresses are too attractive (have you seen portraits of the sisters ? They were not really beauties ),nothing (or almost nothing ) deals with literary creation ,unless some (splendid) pictures of the Moor count.
It's interesting to note that the movie was cut drastically: they say almost an hour is missing .It's hard to judge a truncated version.Maybe some day ,the film as intended by Téchiné will be shown.
Objections to this costume drama remain:too few of the scenes are really potent,the actresses are too attractive (have you seen portraits of the sisters ? They were not really beauties ),nothing (or almost nothing ) deals with literary creation ,unless some (splendid) pictures of the Moor count.
It's interesting to note that the movie was cut drastically: they say almost an hour is missing .It's hard to judge a truncated version.Maybe some day ,the film as intended by Téchiné will be shown.
They Just Didn't Care
jwiley-8629217 October 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Imagine if someone made a Dickens biopic and staged it like a European art film. "Les Soeurs" is just that confused. I couldn't tell what they were going for, unless, as my mother postulated, the French are getting back at Charlotte for her unfavorable views on Francophone culture.
Maybe there wasn't a lot of information available on the Brontë family in 1979, but all the exciting parts that I'd want to see dramatized are either rushed through or absent. First of all, take the scene with Anne and the children in the yard when they discuss capturing and torturing small animals. This aggravated Anne to no end, yet the blocking and line delivery in that scene couldn't be more dispassionate about something so sick! The Brontës' novels are full of violent behavior, imagery and emotions, yet none of that is depicted here! By the time the novels are brought up, I have gotten no sense of the turmoil that inspired them. We are not privy to the girls' thoughts, and isn't that what biopics should be about? The film jumps around with regard to the events, making it feel rushed despite a two-hour runtime. Before you know it, Emily, Anne and Branwell are dead and we know nothing of the crippling depression Charlotte is documented to have suffered as a result! It's like the idea behind this film had nothing to do with showing us who the Brontës were, but just uses their names for some reason! Charlotte's depression lets us know how much she loved her siblings, but the direction doesn't allow for such warmth between them. The Brontës are compelling figures to me because if you read their letters etc., you realize that the Victorians had the same senses of humor, sarcasm and flaws as us modern folk. They were nowhere near this dour, particularly in their youth.
As if that didn't rip my heart out and stomp on it, there's the treatment of Charlotte's relationship with her Belgian schoolmaster, Constantin Héger. Who did they get to play this alluring, passionate man who shook up her whole life and inspired her most compelling characters? Some guy with ugly 70s hair that makes me think of a walrus. Jesus, she LOST HER MIND for this man, sending him letters that reached "You Oughta Know" levels of desperation, and all of it is run through like they're trying to get it over with!!! It culminates with a brief, brief scene where Héger's wife (yes) hands Constantin one of the letters, and he immediately rips in in half unread. That's not fair; we don't know what he did with the letters, just that they were torn up at some point. Did these people sympathize with Charlotte at all? Then why was this film made?
Let me give credit where credit is due. Marie-France as Charlotte is perfect casting, and she deserved a better Brontë movie. You feel that she IS Charlotte, and she IS Lucy Snowe. May she rest in peace. Another strength is that the film looks gorgeous. But there are problems with the visuals, too. I think they blew their budget on the costumes and couldn't afford to film in Haworth, London or Brussels. Brussels is a big city, and all we see of it is a schoolroom that looks like it could be in the woods! Similarly, Haworth does not look like Haworth. I've seen pictures of the real thing. You can't fool me, movie. I know they didn't have the budget for fantasy sequences about the fantasy stories they wrote as children, but these were very important for their creative development and paint a picture of different people than the ones in this film. And could they not afford to dye Branwell's hair red, or did they just not care? Say it with me: THEY JUST DIDN'T CARE!
I keep hearing there's going to be a miniseries bio of these exceptional people. A series would give the story enough room for everything, so I hope it comes out, like, yesterday. If you want to know about Charlotte's life, read her novels.
Maybe there wasn't a lot of information available on the Brontë family in 1979, but all the exciting parts that I'd want to see dramatized are either rushed through or absent. First of all, take the scene with Anne and the children in the yard when they discuss capturing and torturing small animals. This aggravated Anne to no end, yet the blocking and line delivery in that scene couldn't be more dispassionate about something so sick! The Brontës' novels are full of violent behavior, imagery and emotions, yet none of that is depicted here! By the time the novels are brought up, I have gotten no sense of the turmoil that inspired them. We are not privy to the girls' thoughts, and isn't that what biopics should be about? The film jumps around with regard to the events, making it feel rushed despite a two-hour runtime. Before you know it, Emily, Anne and Branwell are dead and we know nothing of the crippling depression Charlotte is documented to have suffered as a result! It's like the idea behind this film had nothing to do with showing us who the Brontës were, but just uses their names for some reason! Charlotte's depression lets us know how much she loved her siblings, but the direction doesn't allow for such warmth between them. The Brontës are compelling figures to me because if you read their letters etc., you realize that the Victorians had the same senses of humor, sarcasm and flaws as us modern folk. They were nowhere near this dour, particularly in their youth.
As if that didn't rip my heart out and stomp on it, there's the treatment of Charlotte's relationship with her Belgian schoolmaster, Constantin Héger. Who did they get to play this alluring, passionate man who shook up her whole life and inspired her most compelling characters? Some guy with ugly 70s hair that makes me think of a walrus. Jesus, she LOST HER MIND for this man, sending him letters that reached "You Oughta Know" levels of desperation, and all of it is run through like they're trying to get it over with!!! It culminates with a brief, brief scene where Héger's wife (yes) hands Constantin one of the letters, and he immediately rips in in half unread. That's not fair; we don't know what he did with the letters, just that they were torn up at some point. Did these people sympathize with Charlotte at all? Then why was this film made?
Let me give credit where credit is due. Marie-France as Charlotte is perfect casting, and she deserved a better Brontë movie. You feel that she IS Charlotte, and she IS Lucy Snowe. May she rest in peace. Another strength is that the film looks gorgeous. But there are problems with the visuals, too. I think they blew their budget on the costumes and couldn't afford to film in Haworth, London or Brussels. Brussels is a big city, and all we see of it is a schoolroom that looks like it could be in the woods! Similarly, Haworth does not look like Haworth. I've seen pictures of the real thing. You can't fool me, movie. I know they didn't have the budget for fantasy sequences about the fantasy stories they wrote as children, but these were very important for their creative development and paint a picture of different people than the ones in this film. And could they not afford to dye Branwell's hair red, or did they just not care? Say it with me: THEY JUST DIDN'T CARE!
I keep hearing there's going to be a miniseries bio of these exceptional people. A series would give the story enough room for everything, so I hope it comes out, like, yesterday. If you want to know about Charlotte's life, read her novels.
Undervalued Echiné biopic about the Bronte siblings
lasttimeisaw17 May 2016
Premiered in Cannes and competing for Palme d'Or, Téchiné's elusive biopic about the world- famous British literature siblings met with a cold shoulder from both critics and its audience, its reputation has been reviving through time, a BluRay release is a timely step and gives a full-blown flair to this artistic project.
Starring Pisier, Adjani and Huppert, three distinctly beautiful French actresses as Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë respectively, and casting a then unknown Greggory as their brother Branwell, in fact, the film could be more aptly renamed as "BRANWELL BRONTË AND HIS THREE SISTERS", because his story takes a great chunk of the narrative. If one had done some background check beforehand, one would know that three of the four siblings were struck by early death, survived only by Charlotte and their father Reverend Patrick Brontë (played by the Irish veteran Magee), so death foregrounds itself as a sombre motif in the contexts, starting with their aunt Elizabeth (a wayward presence from the singular-looking Sapritch), tragic events ensue and render an elegiac sheen of pathos so astute that it permeates into the bleak surroundings and strikes spectators hard.
From the outlook of a language purist or a British loyalist, a Francophone adaptation is something of a travesty, only caters to Francophiles, which might explain its tepid reception at the first place, but Téchiné's aesthetic technique is so astonishingly eloquent, faithfully depicts the plight of intellectual women in Victorian era and knowingly nitpicks the snobbery of the aristocracy, taps into its locale's unique heath topography aided by breathtaking camera-work from DP Bruno Nuytten (Adjani's then partner), an immediate analogy off the top of my head is Andrea Arnold's outlandish offering of WUTHERING HEIGHTS (2011).
Branwell, the only male heir in the family, is a spoilt child, juggling between poetry and painting, his talent is strangled by a failed affaire du coeur with a married woman Ms. Robinson (Surgère, braves herself to a mismatch with a man much younger and immature than her), Greggory's effete physique, emotionally clingy affectation takes the challenge roundly. But it is the trio of actresses what our hearts hanker after, the two Isabelle, both in the acme of their youth, Ajani's Emily is a hard-bitten dissenter of romance and love, of fame and material trappings, even in her dying days, she draws the line at modern medicine and craves for a natural cure, she is iron-willed and portrayed as an archetype of modern feminism, which also lies the assets of WUTHERING HEIGHTS. Anne, the youngest of them, is dwarfed by her sisters in her work, seems to be a diffident, observant gal, but Huppert embodies herself with somewhat mature sensitivity, which faintly counterbalances her youthfulness.
In all fairness, it is the late Ms. Pisier, whose restrained but deeply affecting presentation of Charlotte, leaves the most memorable print on Téchiné's handsomely manufactured adaptation, meanwhile, the attendant score, an eclectic melange of classical music from Tancredi, Rossini and Schumann, runs fluently and channels the emotional upheaval of the fairly rambling plot, until a tranquil finale where some peace finally can be found under the glossiness of fame and success.
Starring Pisier, Adjani and Huppert, three distinctly beautiful French actresses as Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë respectively, and casting a then unknown Greggory as their brother Branwell, in fact, the film could be more aptly renamed as "BRANWELL BRONTË AND HIS THREE SISTERS", because his story takes a great chunk of the narrative. If one had done some background check beforehand, one would know that three of the four siblings were struck by early death, survived only by Charlotte and their father Reverend Patrick Brontë (played by the Irish veteran Magee), so death foregrounds itself as a sombre motif in the contexts, starting with their aunt Elizabeth (a wayward presence from the singular-looking Sapritch), tragic events ensue and render an elegiac sheen of pathos so astute that it permeates into the bleak surroundings and strikes spectators hard.
From the outlook of a language purist or a British loyalist, a Francophone adaptation is something of a travesty, only caters to Francophiles, which might explain its tepid reception at the first place, but Téchiné's aesthetic technique is so astonishingly eloquent, faithfully depicts the plight of intellectual women in Victorian era and knowingly nitpicks the snobbery of the aristocracy, taps into its locale's unique heath topography aided by breathtaking camera-work from DP Bruno Nuytten (Adjani's then partner), an immediate analogy off the top of my head is Andrea Arnold's outlandish offering of WUTHERING HEIGHTS (2011).
Branwell, the only male heir in the family, is a spoilt child, juggling between poetry and painting, his talent is strangled by a failed affaire du coeur with a married woman Ms. Robinson (Surgère, braves herself to a mismatch with a man much younger and immature than her), Greggory's effete physique, emotionally clingy affectation takes the challenge roundly. But it is the trio of actresses what our hearts hanker after, the two Isabelle, both in the acme of their youth, Ajani's Emily is a hard-bitten dissenter of romance and love, of fame and material trappings, even in her dying days, she draws the line at modern medicine and craves for a natural cure, she is iron-willed and portrayed as an archetype of modern feminism, which also lies the assets of WUTHERING HEIGHTS. Anne, the youngest of them, is dwarfed by her sisters in her work, seems to be a diffident, observant gal, but Huppert embodies herself with somewhat mature sensitivity, which faintly counterbalances her youthfulness.
In all fairness, it is the late Ms. Pisier, whose restrained but deeply affecting presentation of Charlotte, leaves the most memorable print on Téchiné's handsomely manufactured adaptation, meanwhile, the attendant score, an eclectic melange of classical music from Tancredi, Rossini and Schumann, runs fluently and channels the emotional upheaval of the fairly rambling plot, until a tranquil finale where some peace finally can be found under the glossiness of fame and success.
A film to remember!
MEG-401 November 1999
Although I saw this film in 1979/1980 it was one of the most memorable movies of my movie viewing days. The photography was excellent and is to my mind one of the best alongside 2 or 3 other films that have appealed to my artistic senses. At the time I thought 'trust the French to make a movie about the English that is so beautifully executed'. This may sound very "highbrow" but not really. If you are into foreign language films well acted and visually appealing this is a film for you. I have been searching ever since for a chance to view it again. Top Marks 10/10
special
Kirpianuscus12 September 2017
it is not exactly the expected biopic. and this represents its basic virtue. because, after its end, you discover than it is the best manner to present the Bronte universe. in cold images, using a magnificent cast, as fragments of memories, silence, dust and expectation. as a trip around the corners of a world who remains enigmatic. a film about a family. as a painting in Pointilist style. because all is discovered behind the shadows. because it is a poem about survive. and one of films who, after its end, grows up in yourself. this fact does it special. real special. almost like a memory. because it has the wise science to be a film about people more than about theirs books. and the result is fantastic - the people becoming theirs characters.
Friendship like the Holly-tree
Roberto Lorenz8 April 2002
This is the one single wonderful biography about the Brontës!
You feel, it's French: cold, realistic and authentic... Ok, and it seems to be a little boring at the beginning; and there is no one single highlight turing the whole film. But isn't it a magnum opus? I think, exactly this kind of silence gives the film its power. Listen to the words! There is almost no dialogue without a hidden allusion to poems by the Brontë-sisters.
And Isabelle Hupperts' sensitive performance is definitely outstanding.
You feel, it's French: cold, realistic and authentic... Ok, and it seems to be a little boring at the beginning; and there is no one single highlight turing the whole film. But isn't it a magnum opus? I think, exactly this kind of silence gives the film its power. Listen to the words! There is almost no dialogue without a hidden allusion to poems by the Brontë-sisters.
And Isabelle Hupperts' sensitive performance is definitely outstanding.
A feast for Bronte fans!
york7421 February 2006
A feast of perfect acting (the three actresses earn applause), inspired direction and splendid photography (which evokes the outside and the inner landscapes of the sister writers), but strictly reserved to Bronte admirers. The screenplay, built upon continuous references to the Bronte artistic work, can create a sense of icy estrangement, but who is familiar with the writings and the life of the Bronte sisters (maybe through the cult Charlotte bio by Elizabeth Gaskell) will be enchanted. It is a pity this movie remains mainly unseen. The only chance to obtain it at the moment is to get the Spanish DVD which also features the French version.
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