Les deux anglaises et le continent (1971)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

François Truffaut

Writers:

Henri-Pierre Roché (novel)
François Truffaut (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

18 November 1971 (France)

Genre:

Romance | Drama

Plot:

At the beginning of the 20th century, Claude Roc, a young middle-class Frenchman meets in Paris Ann Brown...

Plot Keywords:

Paris | Love | Letter | Marriage | Nudity

Cast

Jean-Pierre Léaud	...	Claude Roc
Kika Markham	...	Ann Brown
Stacey Tendeter	...	Muriel Brown
Sylvia Marriott	...	Mrs. Brown
Marie Mansart	...	Madame Roc
Philippe Léotard	...	Diurka
Irène Tunc	...	Ruta
Mark Peterson	...	Mr. Flint
Georges Delerue	...	Claude's Business Agent
Marie Iracane	...	Madame Roc's maidservant
Marcel Berbert	...	Vendeur d'art
Jeanne Lobre	...	Porter
David Markham	...	Palmist

Also Known As:

Two English Girls (Canada: English title) (USA) (cut version)
Anne and Muriel (UK)
Les deux anglaises (France) (reissue title)
Two English Girls and the Continent (International: English title) (informal literal title)

Runtime:

USA:108 min (cut version) | France:116 min (cut version) | 130 min (director's cut) | Argentina:120 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Sweden:11 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Auderville, Manche, France

Company:

Les Films du Carrosse

Trivia:

Anne's last words in the film are, "If you send for a doctor, I will see him now." These were writer Emily Brontë's last words before she died, Truffaut who was an avid reader probably used her words in the film as an homage or to compare her to the character of Anne.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Day for Night: An Appreciation (2003) (V)

Minor Truffaut, minor pleasures

The restored 130-minute version of Two English Girls is something of a misfire but not without compensations. For a director who complained about the overly-literary nature of French cinema, his mise-en-scene is very clumsy here, with excessive use of narration not just to fill in gaps but to tell us the characters thoughts and feelings during scenes where, had he done his job properly, we should know. At times it threatens to become a slideshow accompaniment to a book reading.

The plot ambles along directionlessly as Jean-Pierre Leaud's selfish young Frenchman selfishly destroys two sisters' lives without ever finding happiness himself. It's very much fantasy-fulfilment, with the two embodying Madonna and Whore and at times threatens to turn into a distaff Jules et Jim as everyone is oh so civilized about it all. The casting is also problematic. Kika Markham is fine as the free-spirit of sorts, but Stacey Tendeter is less effective as her 'purer' sister and the casting of the minor British roles is haphazard at best - David Markham is fine as a fortune teller, but the next-door neighbour is not exactly a natural actor and one scene features a London Bobby who looks about as English as Raimu on a particularly jowelly day.

It's one of those films that always seems to be on for another hour no matter how far into it you get, and it doesn't reward the effort with more than minor pleasures. But it is nice to see composer Georges Delerue in a small role as an estate agent and for all its clumsiness and overlength it has its moments and a mildly affecting ending. It's just a shame getting there took so long.