The Girl on the Bridge Blu-ray Daniel Auteuil / Vanessa Paradis

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Girl on the Bridge" or "The Girl on the Bridge")

Directed by Patrice Leconte
France 1999

Girl on the Bridge is one of director Patrice Leconte’s (The Hairdresser’s Husband) most intoxicating romances. Shot in gorgeous B&W, it follows the whirlwind courtship of carnival knife thrower Gabor (Daniel Auteuil, Caché) and lonesome wanderer Adele (Vanessa Paradis, Half a Chance). Despairing of her future, Adele leaps into the Seine before being rescued by Gabor, and unexpectedly becomes the new assistant, and target, for his act. He flings knives at her across Europe, their love growing with each death-defying act. Living so close to the edge, how long can the luck of these lovers hold out?

***

Vanessa Paradis conveys the instinct and desire of the child woman with flirtatious innocence. To dismiss Adele as a nymphomaniac would completely miss the point. She likes to give, she enjoys the warmth, she expects truth. Her disappointments are legion and she blames herself. When luck is bad, it sticks like tar. Adele is a tar baby until she discovers in the knife thrower a conduit for hope.

Daniel Auteuil replaces his natural charm with a world weary acceptance of age as a chasm between possibility and defeat. More than anything, the knife thrower is an artist, a man who has spent his life perfecting skills that lose their novelty and curb expectation. In his eyes, you see fear with every throw of the blade. "After 40, you get erratic."

Leconte's genius is in making a fable breathe and allowing romance the freedom to find itself.

Excerpt from Angus Wolfe Murray HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: March 31st, 1999

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Review: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:31:49.583
Video	2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 32,895,813,457 bytes Feature: 29,501,220,864 bytes Video Bitrate: 38.93 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	DTS-HD Master Audio French 1560 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1560 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Kino 2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 32,895,813,457 bytes Feature: 29,501,220,864 bytes Video Bitrate: 38.93 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details • Audio commentary by film critic Manuela Lazic • Le Batteur Du Boléro (1992, short film by Patrice Leconte) (8:22) • Trailers Blu-ray Release Date: July 16th, 2024 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 10

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (July 2024): Kino have transferred Patrice Leconte's The Girl on the Bridge ("La fille sur le pont") to Blu-ray. It is on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. We compared the Legend Films (US) and Fox / Pathè PAL DVDs in 2008 HERE. We have also compared some captures below. The 1080P delineates the contrast far better, detail rises, there is more information in the frame, and grain textures are present. It's an impressive video upgrade with frequent depth. I thought it looked exceptional.

NOTE: We have added 86 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track (24-bit) in the original French language (with smatterings of Italian, Turkish and Greek.) The Girl on the Bridge has no aggressive moments. There is no original score for "The Girl on the Bridge", instead is a wonderful cornucopia mix of different music including Brenda Lee's I'm Sorry, some Benny Goodman (Sing, Sing, Sing), Marianne Faithfull's Who Will Take My Dreams Away, plus Noro Morales, Mozart, Festival in Valencia by Charles Smitton, Italian music by the Orchestra Secondo Casadei, Turkish music (featured in many of his films) from the Istanbul Oriental Ensemble, and also the Austrian National Anthem. There are subtleties; jewelry, balls rolling - an overall evocative sound design. It all sounds quite fetching via the lossless transfer. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A'-locked Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by French film critic, based in London, Manuela Lazic. She talks warmly about beloved French actor Daniel Auteuil - who she feels is playing against type here in Leconte's The Girl on the Bridge and about Vanessa Paradis who may have been better know as a singer at the time of production. As a model, Paradis has appeared on more than 300 magazine covers worldwide. She talks about Leconte filming her from different angles - almost voyeuristically and discusses similar in the director's The Hairdresser’s Husband. The black and white cinematography and dialogue paying homage to the French new Wave (early Godard in particular,) cinematographer Jean-Marie Dreujou and much more. It's an excellent analysis with keen observations incorporating Bergman references, POV shots etc. I really enjoyed the commentary. Le Batteur Du Boléro is a 1992 short film by Patrice Leconte running about 8.5 minutes. It deals with a performance of Ravel's Boléro and the orchestra's unsung hero: the drummer. There is a theatrical trailer for Girl on the Bridge and two other Leconte films; The Hairdresser’s Husband and Yvonne's Perfume.

Patrice Leconte's The Girl on the Bridge has two wonderfully eclectic characters connecting in... a unique circumstance. Gabor (Daniel Auteuil) a performance knife thrower and Adèle (Vanessa Paradis) the girl he saves from a suicide attempt. They share a unspoken telepathic bond and another link directly with strokes of fortune "Luck is made".) Neither seems to realize or appreciate it as they go on adventures in his Fellini-esque performance art. He makes her his 'target girl'. What a fun, adventurous romance. Some may notice the French mega-star singer Mylène Farmer cameo'd in a hallway and beside the stage. Auteuil is great in everything (Un Coeur en Hiver, 36 Quai des Orfèvres, The Well Digger's Daughter, Caché.) Paradis (unrelated link to Knife + Heart) evokes silent era film stars with her large expressive eyes and body language. Leconte's The Girl on the Bridge has is another of the director's escapist fantasies and I loved every minute of it. It is my favorite of his films. The Kino Blu-ray a/v is top-shelf and has an edifying commentary, plus a short by the director. Strongly recommended!