Girl on the Bridge
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Daniel Auteuil: "Why are you doing this?" Vanessa Paradis: "Because I am desperate." Vanessa Paradis: "What are you doing here?" Daniel Auteuil: "I am looking for desperate women." |
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The Girl on the Bridge (La fille sur le pont) is a 1999 French drama film shot in black and white and directed by Patrice Leconte, starring Daniel Auteuil and Vanessa Paradis.
Plot
After an interview sequence with a girl, the plot centres around knifethrower Gabor (Auteuil) and the girl, called Adèle (Paradis), whom he meets as she prepares to kill herself by jumping from a bridge. Gabor intervenes to prevent the suicide and persuades Adèle to become the target girl in his knifethrowing act. The film then follows their relationship as they travel to Monaco then into Italy and onto a cruise ship with their act. Their companionship and teamwork mean great luck for both of them. Then they get separated, she to Greece and he to Turkey, and their lives once again become luckless. The film ends on a bridge in Istanbul, this time with her saving him from suicide.
Cast
- Vanessa Paradis as Adèle
- Daniel Auteuil as Gabor
- Frédéric Pfluger as Contortionist
- Demetre Georgalas as Takis
- Catherine Lascault as Irène
- Isabelle Petit-Jacques as Bride
- Mireille Mossé as Miss Memory
- Didier Lemoine as TGV ticket conductor
- Mylène Farmer (uncredited guest appearance in a hallway and beside the stage)
- Bertie Cortez as Kusak
- Stéphane Metzger as Italian waiter
- Claude Aufaure as Suicide victim
- Farouk Bermouga as TGV waiter
- Nicolas Donato as Mr. Loyal
- Enzo Etokyo as Italian megaphone
- Giorgios Gatzios as Barker
Music
The soundtrack consists entirely of existing music, with Who Will Take My Dreams Away by Marianne Faithfull, I'm sorry by Brenda Lee and Goodbye in a version of Benny Goodman recurring during the film. Other music includes other numbers by Benny Goodman and Noro Morales, Festival in Valencia by Charles Smitton, Italian music by the Orchestra Secondo Casadei, Turkish music from the Istanbul Oriental Ensemble, and the Austrian National Anthem.