The Lovers on the Bridge

R

Released Oct 16, 1991

2 hr. 5 min.

Romance

Drama

List

86%

21 Reviews

Tomatometer

88%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

A homeless addict (Denis Lavant) and a young painter (Juliette Binoche) with failing eyesight forge a bond on the streets of Paris.

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Critics Consensus

Brash and big-hearted, The Lovers on the Bridge can sweep away most viewers with its mad romanticism.

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martin f

It's more a showcase for the actors' talent - which are phenomenal in their challenging roles - than a movie. You share the life of two homeless people and like the madness of these two protagonist the movie switches between long cold scenes and very exciting moments which doesn't make things particularly cohesive but keep us entertaining when needed. If you dream to see Juliette Binoche waterskiing in a French river with fireworks all around her, this is the movie for you but at the same time you will still have a very different movie than expected.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Actually a french film titled Les Amants du Pont Neuf.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Amazing!!!! So original, so artistic and so poetic but encaging with an amazing story that keeps the films moving along at a good pace. Love it so much I bought to have in my collection just to show off :)

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

this movie is 20 years old yet it doesn't looks like an old movie, kudos to the cinematographer because he did a superb job on this movie

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

My second Leos Carax film. "Holy Motors" is one of my favorites, but I found this one pretty good too, even with a pretty different approach. Some drunk, Alex, is living on a bridge in Paris. He is scoring drugs from another man on the same bridge. He drinks and is generally up to nothing. Then Michèle comes along. She is a painter with a fainting eyesight. She has given up hope so she joins Alex and lives with him. Their relationship is special but complicated. Not as filled with drugs and alcohol as you might think, but they are not up for much. Some great subplots and twists makes it interesting and some fantastic scenes makes it pretty and something else. The photography is splendid and the story is lovely put together and it develops constantly into somethiing greater and more complex. Denis Lavant as Alex is truly amazing. His skills is great and he is a true chameleon on screen. Juliette Binoche is also a great star here and their chemestry is fittingly weird but deep. A film that will be remembered as a whole after some time of sinking in. A different lovestory that needs some digestion. 7.5 out of 10 fireworks.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

andrey k

Stunningly shot, decorations and background deserve the highest praise, performances are outstanding. In this film romance and realism are walking abreast, brilliant. But I can't get rid of the feeling that their love is fake, it's all about selfishness, unless it was director's idea..

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Leos Carax

Director

Juliette Binoche

Michèle Stalens

Denis Lavant

Alex

Klaus-Michael Gruber

Hans

Marion Stalens

Marion

Chrichan Larsson

Julien

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Anthony Lane

Independent (UK)

Think of it as cinema living rough, scruffy patches of tedium broken by bursts of lunatic freedom.

Jan 3, 2018

Full Review

Lisa Schwarzbaum

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: B

Sep 7, 2011

Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

A film both glorious and goofy, inspiring affection and exasperation in nearly equal measure.

Rated: 3/4

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Peter Terzian

Out Magazine

Lovers will undoubtedly turn off as many viewers as it seduces -- but this long-unreleased masterpiece, shot between 1989 and 1991, will leave true cinephiles nothing short of delirious.

May 27, 2022

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Seanax.com

... a lush cinematic painting of love, passion, and madness expressed in a romantic surrealist style and images charges with color and magic.

Mar 30, 2017

Full Review

Laura Clifford

Reeling Reviews

..there is no denying the utter romanticism of the film.

Rated: B+

Feb 7, 2013

Full Review

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Synopsis

A homeless addict (Denis Lavant) and a young painter (Juliette Binoche) with failing eyesight forge a bond on the streets of Paris.

Director: Leos Carax
Executive Producer: Albert Prévost, Hervé Truffaut
Screenwriter: Leos Carax
Distributor: VCL Communications GmbH [de], Fechner Gaumont [fr], Artificial Eye, Miramax Films, Musidora Films S.A., Opening Distribution, Arrow Films, Miramax Zoë, Miramax Home Entertainment [us], arte
Production Co: Gaumont International, Films A2, Films Christian Fechner [fr]
Rating: R
Genre: Romance, Drama
Original Language: French (France)
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 16, 1991, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 5, 2021
Box Office (Gross USA): $117.6K
Sound Mix: Dolby
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.37:1)

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