Synopsis
Wealthy but arrogant writer Jean Hervey comes home one day to find that his wife, Gabrielle, has left him for another man. Realizing her mistake, Gabrielle returns, and the pair begin a merciless analysis of their marriage as the relationship comes undone.
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Cast
- Isabelle HuppertGabrielle Hervey
- Pascal GreggoryJean Hervey
- Claudia ColiYvonne
- Thierry HancisseEditor-in-Chief
- Chantal NeuwirthMadeleine
- Thierry FortineauGuest
- Louise VincentGuest
- Clément Hervieu-LégerGuest
- Nicolas MoreauGuest
- Rinaldo RoccoConsul
Recommendations
- 100
The New York Times
Together with his extraordinary performers, Mr. Chéreau breathes life into characters who long ago set a course for death. - 91
The A.V. Club
In Chéreau's hands, Gabrielle has an operatic quality that throws the repressive environment into sharp relief; the film works like a pressure cooker, seething with bottled passions that intermittently burst through with startling cruelty and violence. - 90
Village Voice
At once robust and ethereal, this is an existential ghost story, with fresh blood pulsing through its veins. - 90
Salon
A haunting and riveting work, unlike anything else you can see at the movies and as such an explicit challenge to the unambitious, anesthetic character of most contemporary cinema. But is it easy, or delightful, or fun? It is not. - 83
Entertainment Weekly
Greggory anchors Gabrielle in manly bewilderment and rage, while Huppert claws the title character's way to self-awareness. - 70
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). - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
Gabrielle inspires mixed feelings; it is dialogue heavy but a treat for the eye. - 70
Variety
Though it won't appeal to everyone, the concoction actually works, thanks to Huppert and Greggory's powerful negative chemistry.
