Summary
After her divorce, Rosalie lives with César, a wealthy but temperamental scrap-metal
dealer. All is well until out of the blue appears David, Rosalie’s former
lover, the man who wrecked her earlier marriage. César notices that Rosalie
is still attracted towards David and, driven mad by jealosy, he drives her away.
Rosalie returns to David and they renew their earlier romance. Then César
reappears and again Rosalie is torn between her two lovers...
Review
With its memorable dream-like photography and impassioned acting performances, César
et Rosalie - quite possibly Claude Sautet's best film - is a haunting evocation of
the pain and faltering uncertainty of love. The story of an irreconciable
love triangle is told with a conflicting combination of poetry and realism, sometimes
comic, sometimes dark and menacing. Beneath this turbulence of troubled emotions
and alternating mood swings (reminiscent of Truffaut's Jules et Jim), a tale of
great humanity and sensibility is revealed, culminating in a sublimely beautiful final
sequence.
The combination of Sautet's masterful direction and faultless performances from his lead
actors (Yves Montand, Romy Schneider and Sami Frey) makes this a compelling, highly seductive
drama. The film exposes so much raw emotion, sometimes directly with bursts of shocking
violence, but more often with the greatest subtlety. The relationship between the
three main characters is traced with unceasing tenderness and believability, someting
which lends the film its drive, humanity and intense poignancy.
Actor-singer Yves Montand gives one of his best screen performances, doubtless contributing
to the impressive box office success of the film in France. The film is also
marked by the brief appearance of a 17-year old Isabelle Huppert (now an acting legend)
in one of her earliest screen roles.
© James Travers 2000
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