The Duchess of Langeais

Released Feb 22, 2008

2h 17m

History

Drama

Romance

List

70%

Tomatometer

66 Reviews

52%

Audience Score

500+ Ratings

In 1820s Paris married socialite Madame de Langeais (Jeanne Balibar) captures the attention of a soldier (Guillaume Depardieu) who vows to make her his lover. Though the soldier, Armand de Montriveau, initially falls for her empty promises of seduction, he soon turns the tables on the cunning temptress.

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Critics Consensus

At times plodding and dialogue heavy, The Duchess of Langeais is nevertheless an intriguing and rewarding dissection of class and gender relations.

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Joshua Rothkopf

Time Out

Rated: 5/5

Nov 17, 2011

Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

It's charged with nuance yet ultimately an exercise in compressed literary adaptation.

Dec 17, 2008

Full Review

Stephanie Zacharek

Salon.com

Maybe even Rivette himself is a little too delicate for this ferocious, intensely focused pair. But he's fascinated by them, and ultimately, he loves them.

Oct 18, 2008

Full Review

Steve Erickson

Gay City News

By offering such a faithful interpretation of an old-fashioned vision of love, "The Duchess of Langeais" challenges us to ponder whether our own relationships might not be equally tortured.

Mar 6, 2018

Full Review

Daniel Kasman

MUBI

...the film's pinnacle example of masterful direction, as well as the abyss-like darkness of the story's creeping sense of the fruitlessness of romance, and possibly of life.

Nov 17, 2017

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Well-acted literary period drama based on the 1834 novella La Duchesse de Langeais by Honore Balzac.

Rated: B-

Apr 25, 2012

Full Review

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Audience Member

Literate adaptation but slow-moving and overlong.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Long and frustrating, but intoxicating for some reason. A romance of completely unconsummated love.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I'm sure Balzac would have loved this adaptation of his work but the acting was much too melodramatic for my liking. Jeanne Balibar spends her whole time swooning and collapsing onto sofas and Guillaume Depardieu drove me mad as he clacked around on his wooden leg with his floppy hair. The film was far, far too long....

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

An elegant tale chronicling the complex and failed love affair between a married duchess and a decorated army officer. Rivette films the action beautifully with a camera that floats through the room, while unfolding the story in a subtle manner. Most interesting in the film is the duchess' choosing of religion as death to escape her fatally flawed relationship. What is for many a choice to a fuller kind of life becomes for her a means of ushering in her death.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I do enjoy some period pieces, but this one not so much :(

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

After watching The Duchess of Langeais I was unsure whether I just watched a terrific minimalist film or the excitement equivalent of viewing over 2 hours of the fireplace channel. Yes, there are plenty of fires with the wood cracking, so this film is a must for pyros. However, the story itself concerns a married duchess and her almost affair with an aristocratic French officer. The two meet, flirt, then one denies the other. The sexual frustrations are felt throughout by characters and viewer alike. Certainly a mockery of bourgeois morals, The Duchess of Langeais is beautiful to look at, but still somewhat empty.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

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Jacques Rivette

Director

Jeanne Balibar

Antoinette de Langeais

Guillaume Depardieu

Armand de Montriveau

Bulle Ogier

Princesse de Blamont-Chauvry

Michel Piccoli

Vidame de Pamiers

Barbet Schroeder

Le Duc de Grandlieu

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Synopsis

In 1820s Paris married socialite Madame de Langeais (Jeanne Balibar) captures the attention of a soldier (Guillaume Depardieu) who vows to make her his lover. Though the soldier, Armand de Montriveau, initially falls for her empty promises of seduction, he soon turns the tables on the cunning temptress.

Director: Jacques Rivette
Producer: Martine Marignac, Maurice Tinchant
Screenwriter: Jacques Rivette, Pascal Bonitzer, Christine Laurent
Distributor: IFC Films
Production Co: Cinemaundici
Genre: History, Drama, Romance
Original Language: Canadian French
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 22, 2008, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 10, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $281.5K
Runtime: 2h 17m
Sound Mix: Dolby SR

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